


Consulting for Heroes

by gladheonsleeps



Series: Across the Galaxies on the Back of the Goddess of War [3]
Category: Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Adult Themes, BAMF Women, Darcy fixes things, Darcy is a witch, F/M, Food, Girl Gang, Hel fixes things, Hurt/Comfort, Loki learns about earth, Loki learns music, Loki's Kids, M/M, Odinson family issues, Sexual References, Sif and Loki working out their shit, Slow Burn, Steve draws good, Strong Language, but it helps sometimes, food doesn't fix everything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 15:28:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5010007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gladheonsleeps/pseuds/gladheonsleeps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy gets a job doing what she was already doing. Classic 'Darcy Lewis teaches Cap & Loki' trope but with added feminist discussions and Tarentino movies with bonus alien romance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic was actually where I started with this whole series, but ended up heading down a rabbit hole and writing two full fics before this one, and having to replace tasertricks with dad Loki because the stories have that annoying habit of not doing what you told them to. 
> 
> Just a general warning that this fic mentions panic attacks, PTSD, eating disorders, anxiety and depression, but I'll add warnings as I go x

“A consultant?” Darcy sat uncomfortably in Fury’s office, staring into the cup of coffee she held in her shaking hand, not quite believing what she was hearing.

“Yes, Ms Lewis. A consultant. This initiative includes several individuals who for one way or another, are unfamiliar with twenty first century American life. With your political background, and your... delicate situation with S.H.I.E.L.D.-“

“You mean the fact that you won’t let me get on with my life since I tasered a Viking Space Prince? Or the fact that I have spent the last few months nursing a different Viking Space Prince back from intergalactic torture? Damn it Nick I thought S.H.I.E.L.D. was finished anyway?”

Fury’s single eye bored into her for a moment for interrupting. He didn’t even answer her question. Darcy held his gaze, chin up, her hand tightening on her coffee cup. He shrugged. “You are actually the best placed and most qualified individual for this position. The pay will increase, and there _are_ certain problems with your most recent activities that I’m sure you are eager to clear up with us.” He held up his hand as Darcy was about to interrupt him again. “I know this initiative’s actions haven’t been to your taste so far Ms Lewis, but we look after our own. These guys need help settling in and you know I don’t spend my nights watching Netflix.” Darcy rolled her eyes. Sure she didn’t have proof, but she was pretty sure Fury spent time watching _Rupaul’s Drag Race._ She decided not to bring it up. “If you take this position, you won’t be the only liability turned into an asset. These men are spending too much of their time and mental energy trying to figure out how to warm up their dinner and trying to figure out idioms we take for granted.”

Darcy quickly grasped the finer points of what the Director wasn’t saying. “You think the Cap’s charming backwards manners and general ignorance could be a liability in the field? I guess even that asshole Von Doom has more of a handle on popular culture than Steve does.”

Fury just nodded. Darcy sighed. When she had first heard of the position she was being shuffled into she was irate. Darcy Lewis, the girl no one wanted. The Little Witch. If Fury was telling the truth, and all bets are off on that one, they had found a position she could not only _understand more than half of_ , but actually thrive in. She looked down at the thick pile of files in the lap of her faded high wasted jeans. They were getting a little thin here and there, but they made her ass look amazing, and that meant a lot on a day like today. “Ok so who exactly are we talking about?’ She asked, fiddling with the corner of Cap’s file.

Fury looked at her for a long moment, measuring who knows what. Finally he sighed and scratched the back of his head absently. “Your biggest priority is getting the Captain and the Asgardians up to scratch. However the entire team will need your attention, Ms Lewis. Of course, it won’t be much more than you already do in that department. Let’s just say that your previous endeavours haven’t escaped our attention, and that the team building and moral support is now funded and backed by management.

Darcy bit her lip as she realised just why she’d been chosen for this role. Tilting her head to one side and narrowing her eyes she asked, “You’re saying you’ll back me making the Avengers watch The Punk Singer and Harry Potter Marathons?”

Fury smiled, actually smiled. This meeting had really thrown her and his smile was the cherry on top of a really strange pie. Maybe Tony was right and Fury _did_ actually like her. “Do your worst Lewis. The team are heroes and role models to the public. They live an incredibly stressful life and sometimes lose sight of the little things. We have noticed of course, that you are able to pick up on tiny details and social dynamics as no one else in our organisation has been able to. And what’s more, you’re damn effective at getting the team to loosen up. You’ll need to liaise with the PR department and send Maria Hill weekly reports on your progress.”

Darcy’s shoulders relaxed and she returned Fury’s smile. “Sounds like something I can do Director.” She stood, sensing the meeting was over. Steadying her coffee hand and tucking the files under her arm she headed to the door. “Anything else?”

“Agent Hill will continue your briefing and have some paper work for you to sign Ms Lewis.”

Nick.” She said finally, and Fury just chuckled, waving her away. When she stepped outside with Hill, who had been in the room with them, the Agent looked at her wide eyed at their familiarity and raised an eyebrow. Darcy just smiled smugly. “What can I say? Even Fury isn’t immune to adorable mixed with bad ass.”

Maria smiled a small smile and replied, putting her hand on the top of her back and motioning for them to move down the hallway. “Speaking of which, there are several aspects of your new role we still need to discuss. Tell me Ms Lewis, have you ever held a gun?”


	2. Chapter 2

One week later...

Monday morning came too soon. Darcy had spent most of her weekend continuing to prepare for the week, doing as much research on Asgard, historical Viking society and trying to balance it with topping up her knowledge on Captain America’s era of dance halls and going steady. She had mixed business with pleasure and spent a blissful afternoon with Fen at bookstore downtown armed with her new work credit card. She bought some books on history, art, politics, and to bring their attention to their cultural significance, she bought some Wonder Woman and Superman comics along, going with a mix of new and old. She had also spent many hours finding some music documentaries for them to watch, as music always seemed to Darcy to be a marker of the zeitgeist, showing society where they were at and where they were going. She felt like she would never be prepared for teaching thousand year old Space Princes about what it was to be a human, but she was never one to shy away from a challenge- the opposite in fact- so she had booked her appointment with Loki first. Whether she lived to regret that decision was another matter. From the moment she arrived at 8:00AM till her appointment with him at 10:00AM, she worked on setting up his little starter kit, bigger then Thor’s or Steve’s, due to the recent nature of his (latest) arrival on their fair planet. She also filled out a report on Friday night’s activities, including a copy of a Polaroid of Loki taking his first bite of Brooklyn’s finest slice. She could tell he was incredibly surprised with how delicious Earth food could be, and was glad he didn’t hate it. She disliked pizza haters on principal and that just wouldn’t do. Her friendship with Loki had been blooming at a slow pace. It was sort of not weird to be neighbours with her boyfriend’s dad, and they were both finding that strange, like they were just expecting it to be awkward and it never was. It was still early days, but she popped over to his place with food sometimes and they talked about all sorts of stuff. Friday night she invited him over for pizza and beer, and he seemed to enjoy the small batch ginger beer she’d bought him, thinking that normal beer probably wasn’t his thing.

Loki’s knock came on her office door at 10:10, and as she called out for him to step in, a bedraggled Frost Giant stepped into her office. Darcy would never not be amused by how much the impeccable prince was _not_ a morning person. A small smile appeared on her lips as she made a note in her file. “Hey Loki, can I get you some coffee?’ Darcy had spent the week previous setting up her generous office space in a comfortable and extremely eclectic mix of nostalgic decor with massive book shelves installed to accommodate a library that she hoped to expand upon as time went by. One of the major parts of the room included a coffee station, which she turned to now in order to fill up two cups. She’d been waiting on Loki and the smell had been killing her.

She observed Loki taking in the room quietly as she waited for the machine to work its magic. ‘Did you have a nice weekend?’

“That would really depend on what exactly a week end is.” He said quietly.

She chuckled. “Wow we really need to start at the beginning. Are you familiar with our way of measuring time?” She put the coffees on her desk and sat down in her seat, taking a sip from hers. Everything she’d seen of the dark haired prince so far told her he’d see through any vague attempt at a forced friendship or attempt to get around his defences in any way so she just decided to skip any pretence and be one hundred percent herself. It’s what she’d always done. Whether she was in her political science classes, in the lab with Jane, dancing to songs on her iPod while typing up equations’ or making comments on Clint Barton’s amazing ass, things always went smoothest when she wasn’t pretending to be someone else. She always valued other people for who they were also, and was able to gather small little pieces of information about people which didn’t seem important, but enabled her to really help them become their best selves. It was definitely her talent, and Fury had somehow seen that and made it her actual job. Her first challenge however was sitting in her office staring into a coffee cup. “Are you telling me you haven’t been given any coffee yet?”

Loki looked up at her. “Usually it looks different.”

Darcy raised her eyebrow. “I would have assumed someone of your refined taste would prefer it black. I can get some cream and sugar if you like, but I’d recommend trying it as is.”

Loki looked sceptical but took a sip, then quickly nodded. “You’re correct. I do prefer it like this.” So far so normal. Most of their conversations went a lot like this. They talked about food a lot, actually.

Darcy smiled. “Be careful though, generally the beans and machine might not be as good as this so the flavour won’t be as good. Still tasty though.” He raised his mug in response and took another sip. After finishing half of her coffee she decided to dive in. “Ok Mischief, so obviously I have very limited information on you, as hear say from your family only goes so far. But I know you’re probably the most intelligent being to have been on the surface of the earth- unless the Doctor is actually real – Sorry, pop culture reference. So what I decided, with you being a fifteen hundred year old scholar, is that I would give you books to read- I’m guessing you will pick up a lot of idioms and human being earth things from there. It will save us a lot of time and I feel like there is nothing more condescending then me trying to lecture you on grammar.” He nodded a look of actual relief on his face. He probably thought he was being sent to school. She stood up and walked to the couches, which were stacked with his starter pack, which actually consisted of about five boxes of stuff. “In this box is some fiction. I asked JARVIS to fill me in on all the books he read to you so there’s no crossover.” She perched on the arm of the couch as he remained on his seat in front of her desk. “One thing I’m going to talk about today is something that – I could be wrong – but it seems like popular culture on Asguard is basically war stories. Is that true? That all of the most beloved stories in all of Aesir society are about war and battle?”

Loki frowned. “Yes. Sometimes tales of the hunting of mythical or magical beasts, adventures, tales of great quests.’

Darcy nodded. “So all of your poetry is about battle mostly? What about love?”

“There are poems of love, but mostly about war.”

“On Earth we have tales of war, and bravery, we have tales of love, and we also have tales about all sorts of other people things. So I have put a little bit of each in there. I also have some books on political history, world history, and also some documentaries. Do you know how to use the internet?”

“I learned a little” he paused. “Last time I was here.”

Darcy quirked her mouth at the reminder of the invasion. She was definitely not going to get into that whole story. It was time to move forward. “Great. The internet has a whole bunch of information about pretty much everything, but be aware that most of what is on there is opinion and porn, so tread carefully.“

“What is porn?”

Damn. Way _to go Darcy, just introduce your boyfriend’s dad to pornography_. She laughed out loud and gave him an exaggerated coy look. “Let’s just say it is explicit content that people ... consume ... for pleasure?” She bit her lip in a grin as Loki nodded his understanding, chuckling. There was no way a society as boorish and patriarchal as Asguard didn’t have anything similar. She changed the subject. “I bought you some civilian clothes. Fen helped me pick them out.  I know you take pride in your Asgardian gear but if you want to go out and play you’re going to have to blend.” She looked at him sternly over her spectacles, finding that humour was the best way through this awkward first part of their new professional relationship. “You’ll have to do your own shopping but I bought you some basics to start. Now this,” She held up Stark’s latest digital music device. “Humans have always valued art, music, theatre and literature very highly. Today music is a huge part of life, and” she paused trying to find the words to explain why humans needed it so much. “Music helps us – fuck this sounds so stupid. It helps us feel. It helps us to express our emotions without having to riot or scream or kill or hit or cry. Somehow it – it helps us deal anyway. We value musicians and thespians very highly because of this. Anyway I put a whole range of different stuff on there; I have no idea whether you’ll like any of it, but who knows. If you like certain things and want something similar, ask JARVIS and he will walk you through getting that for you.”

Loki had been very quiet while she ranted, still sitting in his chair, green eyes staring unblinking. Who knows if he was even listening. He straightened in his seat. “Yes, Fenrir has developed quite the passion for music. He speaks of it in a way quite similar to what you were saying.”

God bless that wolf. Darcy assumed half her job was going to be down to that boy. She felt like she should mind that fact but she didn’t. She really really didn’t.

...

Now that his body was completely healed Loki had once again been having trouble sleeping. He worried that his time in the Titan’s company probably meant that he would never again rest easy. It seemed as soon as he had finally reached a place of slumber the spirit in the roof, Jarvis had informed him that it was time to meet with the child, his son’s intended paramour, Ms Lewis. When informed about the expectation that Loki meet with her to be taught about humanity Loki had burned with anger at the insult. Did they think he was a child? But visiting her dwelling a few nights past had made him realise how much he needed more information about this realm. Her home had been filled with the unfamiliar, so many unidentifiable objects and decorative objects that made absolutely no sense to his Aesir sensibilities. He had been sheltered, it seemed, while he was recovering. He had seen the shelves stacked with books in her home, and realised that she too was a scholar. She might be young, but Loki found that his insatiable thirst for knowledge, though it had been smothered for some time, had recently awoken and that this was a good way to start to feed it once more. He dressed quickly and headed for her office, lead by the spirit Jarvis to a study several floors down from his apartments.

It was amazing that Loki found himself living in the home of Stark, the one he had thrown out of the window not so long before. He was not a tame beast, to be kept by such a man, but there were ends that needed to be met and Loki needed all of the aid he could acquire. His enemies were powerful and Loki was but one man. He really needed every ally he could muster. And, he hated to admit it but their protection over the last few months while he was indisposed had certainly been useful. Hopefully these meetings with the child would aid him in knowledge of this realm, and keep him from wanting to murder his new bothers in arms before they had been of use.

Finally the spirit had informed him that he was at the right door. With a little nervousness that had come from Norns knew where, Loki knocked on the Lewis Child’s door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *So there is a mention of the 'r' word in this chapter. They watch Tarantino's Kill Bill and that scene comes up. Wouldn't want you to trigger so look after yourselves <3

Loki looked up to a knock at the door of his rooms. Since his appointment with Ms Lewis four days ago he hadn’t left them, not to eat or to see any others. “Spirit,”

“Yes Prince Loki.” The disembodied voice answered politely.

“Who is at the door?”

“It is Ms Lewis, Your Highness.”

“Thank you.” Loki furrowed his brows and sighed as he moved towards the door, a finger keeping his page in the history book he was reading.

He opened the door to the undeniable scent of food. The child was so small he could hardly see her over all the small boxes she was carrying.

 “Hi Loki! I was informed you hadn’t been eating, so I brought some food over.”

 Loki was shocked. This girl wasn’t a servant as far as he knew, yet she always worried about whether he was eating. This was becoming their habit. “Who informed you?”

 “Oh I asked JARVIS how you were doing and he told me you hadn’t slept or eaten for four days. I know you’re immortal and all, but that sounds like no fun so I decided to bring you a little culinary education, you know, for science!”

 Loki looked at her, stunned for a moment before stepping back and letting her in. She paused for a moment, locating the kitchen before unloading all of her clear boxes on the countertop.

 ...

Darcy was a little worried about the Frost Giant. She had JARVIS monitoring his movements and internet activity, and was totally impressed when told that he had read twelve books in the first twenty four hours. He had also, apparently, played a significant amount of Bjork, Sigur Ros, Beck and This Will Destroy You. She remembered her first ever conversation over burgers with Fen and wondered if it was the name of the last one that had piqued his interest. By the fourth day, when JARVIS reported the Alien Prince hadn’t slept or eaten in days, her scientist protecting instincts kicked in from her time with Jane and she decided to pay him a visit. Realising he actually probably didn’t need to eat, and that he definitely would not appreciate any hint of pity or mothering after the last few months he’d had, she decided to go for education and ordered some high quality sushi that Tony had recommended. She also picked up the _Kill Bill_ movies, because a) It was a warrior’s tale, b) He totally understood vengeance, c)Bad Ass Women, d) Amazing soundtrack and e) Vaguely Japanese theme, which was important. She piled up her boxes of sushi and sake and took off for his apartment.

The look on Loki’s face when she arrived made her think that maybe he had forgotten other people existed at all for a while. He seemed to do that a lot. She didn’t like to intrude on his solitude, but she had a job to do, and that involved face time. “Hey so I brought some food I’m hoping you’ll enjoy. It’s from Japan. Have you spent any time there?”

He nodded. “I did, a few hundred years past. Your Internet tells me it has changed a significant amount since then.”

She laughed. “Yeah, to us, they basically live in the future.” At his familiar creased brow she added “They are really good with technology, and really keen on developing at a really fast rate. But at the same time parts of their culture is so much more ancient then ours. It’s a beautiful and interesting place.”

He nodded. “It used to be beautiful.”

She was reminded again never to assume that this dude’s ignorance meant anything. He’d lived for thousands of years. She was quiet for a little as she opened up the containers of sushi on the part of the table that wasn’t covered in books and papers. Loki, it seemed, had been taking notes on the things he’s been reading. It was in runes, so even if she was the snooping type, she wouldn’t have a clue what they said. “Hey.” Loki looked up from where he was moving some of the books out of the way. “Maybe you can teach me to read runes sometime.”

He smiled. “If you’re interested, I can try. I admit I’ll have to learn to read your runes first. I admit I’ve only been using magic to translate it so far.”

Darcy tsked with a wry grin “That sounds a lot like cheating, Mischief.”

He grinned as he sat, picking up his chopsticks with all the grace and dexterity of a god.

...

The next day, Darcy was writing up a report about her little movie night with Loki. They weren’t BFF’s or anything, but their mutual thirst for knowledge made conversation easy as Darcy asked Loki all about his visit to Japan and a little about his travels over the years. She’d discovered a while ago that was an amazing story teller, and she had listened with all the attention such mastery of tale spinning warranted. She really wasn’t sure how Tarantino would fare against such a master, but she thought he’d actually enjoyed it. As she had guessed, he totally understood the quest for revenge. He’d smiled a little terrifying smile when GoGo came on the screen, which she had to admit made her uneasy. His biggest reaction, however, had been to Buck, and his intended rape of the main character. The look of absolute abhorrence and violent displeasure on Loki’s face made her squirm in her seat. No, she supposed that Asgard’s great tales would wash over details of that oldest act of war. She was pretty sure even gods knew all about it though, and was quietly relieved at his reaction. As Beatrice took care of Buck Loki’s expression was terrifying. Darcy reminded herself once again that Loki, Thor, the rest of the Avengers, even Fen and Jormy were all of them people of war, as much as the last two preferred not to be. She suppressed a little sigh and tried to enjoy her favourite victory, when Beatrice manages to literally will her body out of paralysis.

Typing up her report, Darcy made sure to make a note of these thoughts, all the while wondering whether she should have debriefed with Loki after the movie. She had decided however that it wasn’t some sleepover. She and Loki weren’t going to paint each other’s nails and talk about sex (although they did joke about that stuff a lot, which might be weird but whatever. Out of all of her jokes, they were the ones he laughed at the most.). Her job wasn’t to tame these gods and men; her job was to teach them about modern society. Realising again the massive responsibility on her shoulders, and also the power of her position, she walked over to her shelf she pulled out a few books on gender studies, determined that her students understand a little about modern women, equality, and a lot about consent.

...

Loki remained in his seat after the girl left. If he had asked Jarvis, the spirit that lived in the ceilings and walls of the tower, he would have been politely told that he had been sitting there for twenty eight hours and six minutes. While this was extraordinary for creatures of earth, and highly unusual for creatures like Thor or Sif, who craved physicality and movement, Loki could sit lost in thought for days if uninterrupted. This was probably why Thor and Sif had come to his room seeking him out so regularly in their childhood, for all the good it did them. But Loki wasn’t thinking of Thor, he was thinking about women. The film Ms Lewis had brought to his rooms had been interesting and quite entertaining, a darkly humorous tale of the glories of vengeance, wryly poking fun at the whole idea of bloodlust and battle thirst all while plunging headfirst into the enjoyment such a tale brought with its telling. Loki had been struck by the bravery and callous single-mindedness of this warrior, Beatrice, who had been so badly treated by her lover and master. Many of the warriors in the tale had been women, savage and deadly in their violence. Loki thought of the women in his life, his sometimes associates and sometimes enemies Loralai and Amora, who used magic and their own sensual femininity to manipulate things into going their way. Too bad they were both so greedy and full of themselves that they failed in their schemes more often than they succeeded. Sif, his former lover and shield sister cut an intimidating figure. That woman had bloodlust if he’d ever seen any. Even here on Midgard there was the Spider. Loki didn’t particularly like her; in fact he felt that liking her would be a sign that you were caught in one of her webs. He did respect her, absolutely, and was glad that he now had her as an ally- a much stronger one than Lorelai even without magic. He looked down at the book he had been reading before Darcy had arrived, a book about suffragettes. Women were not seen as equal as men on Midgard, as on Asgard, but here they had made many inroads and had many more rights than even his mother and Sif had on his own planet. How had Midgard come so far so quickly? Loki had always had female allies, learning from an early age that women are incredibly cunning and intelligent, and able to use subtlety and manipulation like weapons. He had no doubt of their power, and would rather treat with them than many boneheaded men such as his brother and father. In his experience, underestimating women was utter foolishness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy gets concerned, and does something about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is mention of eating disorders, and also unhealthy eating habits in this chapter.

Her clients weren’t eating properly. Darcy was reading the information she had asked Jarvis to collate after her dinner with Loki and she was stunned. The dark haired Prince, it seemed, really was the least of her worries, he at least didn’t really need food. The scientists, on the other hand, and The Black Widow, were 100% human, even when they were super human. She wondered how no one had noticed how little they ate, and realised as soon as she saw how much the Cap and Thor consumed. Basically enough for the whole team. She drummed her fingers on the desk. Darcy knew the Avengers were in a meeting with Agent Hill. She tried to talk herself out of rash action, she really did, but after working with Jane for four years, Jane, who basically had an eating disorder between her obsessive science habits and anxiety over her godly boyfriend’s history of infrequent visits. Darcy couldn’t help if adults who aren't adult enough to actually eat three meals a day made her really fucking pissed. Even the meals she had taken care to bring to the dumb ass science bros mostly went uneaten. She got up from her desk. “JARVIS, I’m going to need you to do something for me.”

.......................................................

Loki was bored. Over the time he had spent in this tower, between convincing the team of his goodwill, the truth about his apparent attack on New York, and his enforced placement with the team, he spent way too many of his hours on meetings. At least before he was in bed and able to get out of it by pretending slumber. Agent Hill was currently briefing them on some situation or other which, it turned out; they actually weren’t going to do anything about. The team hadn’t been sent out for a good month, and Loki could see most of them were tense, and ready for a fight. Having spent most of his life in the company of Thor, the Warriors Three and Sif, he wasn’t surprised. Warriors could not live in the practice ring. Too much inaction made them twitchy. He was contemplating using the situation for some fun when the door burst open. The Avengers were on their feet in seconds. Loki smirked as he saw who had made the commotion. “Hello Little Witch.”

Darcy’s expression was like that of a furious dragon. “As far as I was aware, you were all adults. I stand corrected, however.” All of the Avengers looked utterly befuddled, and Darcy crossed her arms over her chest in anger. “Jarvis can you please throw up that information you showed me?”

Agent Hill opened her mouth to object, but closed it as she saw that Darcy wasn’t going anywhere. On the screen, was video footage of Thor making a sandwich. Loki wasn’t quite sure what the ingredients were, but he was certain they were all made up primarily of sugar and what Darcy referred to as ‘all that artificial shit’, which Loki had been informed was ‘Totally fine sometimes, but your body needs real food.’ They all watched on as Thor continued, making the sandwich out of the whole loaf of bread. Tony barked out a laugh. He went quiet when the screen changed to a fact sheet, showing dates and calorie intake for each of the avengers, and frequency of meals. Loki sighed. These people were imbeciles. Their human bodies were so fragile and their lives so short, they really needed to take better care of themselves.

“Heroes. You people are heroes. What would little Sammy from Wisconsin say if he found out that that Thor _never_ eats his vegetables? Or that Captain America actually lives off of salami sandwiches? And You!” she points at The Spider with outrage in her eyes that held personal offence. “I was always wondering how you fit into that catsuit and looking at you naked made me feel _so_ bad about myself, and all this time you’ve had an _eating disorder_?” the Avengers all looked dismayed and confused at this revelation. Darcy, the darling of the Avengers tower was a beautiful specimen. That she felt bad about her body was a shame. They then all turned their eyes to Natasha, who was staring at Darcy, for once looking a little frightened, but Darcy had moved on. “SCIENTISTS! A BIOLOGIST who doesn’t eat? What the hell is _wrong_ with you people?” Tony looked at her with his usual bad attitude, like a kid who got caught with a pornography cache, and Bruce looked solemnly down at the table, clearly chastised.

Loki had never really considered that the public would have any opinion on the eating habits of the Avengers, but he thought of the obsession Midgardians seemed to have with food, and he realised. It was so odd, this habit of attaching food to appearance, or to morality, but things like that never were rational. He continued to watch, happy to be entertained.

“And You!” Darcy turned on Hill, who was watching the scene with the discomfort of someone who was not in control of the room and ought to be. “You people monitor every aspect of this team’s lives. Our privacy was taken from us as soon as we signed the paper work, and you didn’t notice that Clint is the only Avenger who eats a balanced diet? I am VERY disappointed with your care of your team. And I expect you to rectify this. Immediately.”

Hill swallowed. Thor cleared his throat. “Lady Darcy, I admit I am confused.”

Loki rolled his eyes answered, giving Darcy a break from shouting. “Thor, surely you are not that dim. Mortals need food for energy, like a machine. Without the right sustaining elements their performance is impeded and continued lack will quickly lead to death.” Thor suddenly looked very concerned.

Darcy looked at Loki with a hidden smile. He had no idea when exactly they had become friends, but they already had a small code and secret smiles. He gave her a self depreciative smile back, knowing what was coming. “You aren’t going to get out of this either, Mischief. I am making dinners mandatory for everyone, unless you are on a mission. Jarvis will be watching, and he’s going to tell me if you’re naughty. This is only temporary, and I expect Hill” She looked sternly at the Agent, “To find a team to be in charge of this from now on. Nutritionists, medical experts, you name it. I am Very. Disappointed in You. Except you Clint.” She moved over and kissed the archer on the cheek, patting him on the shoulder. “You’re a good boy.” Clint smiled, his neck going red as he blushed. It was easy to want to please Darcy. It was one of her many talents, and one she was using to the fullest here. People simply did whatever they could to keep her happy. He could see them all shifting uncomfortable under the weight of her disappointment. Loki grinned, rather proud of his new friend.

After Darcy left, Tony asked Loki why he was smiling. “I enjoy chaos Anthony. The child is like a Midgardian Hurricane.”

Tony smiled. Then laughed. Loki chuckled, Thor joined in, and eventually the whole room was laughing except Hill, who was looking chastened, and vaguely alarmed.

The girl had no idea the effect she had on people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eating disorders come in a wide range of manifests, and everyone is different. Treatment, therefore, varies from person to person. I hope you have a nice friendly relationship with food, and that you love your body, because it works hard for you!   
> Happy eating! x


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buying art is one of my favourite things. Receiving art from talented friends is even better. 
> 
> Totally playing it fast and loose when it comes to Muspellheimr world building.

Darcy was listening to the Black Keys. Loudly. Between that and looking at fluffy animals on tumblr, she was calming down enough to be vaguely embarrassed by her outburst in the meeting room. Nothing to be done though. She wondered if she’d be called into Fury’s office and fired. She put her head on her desk, covering it with an arm. She liked this job, it was challenging, but it was interesting, and she got to give movie suggestions and make playlists and get paid for it.

A knock at her door drew her out of her thoughts. “It’s open.” She said, only just loud enough to be heard through the door. To her surprise it was a woman in a chef’s uniform, a brightly coloured scarf covering her head. “Uh hi.” She stood up and waved at the chair in front of her desk. What can I do for you?”

The woman smiled nervously as she entered, looking around at the rather eccentric nature of her office. Darcy smiled reassuringly as the woman sat down. “Hi, I’m Alanah. Miss Potts asked me to see you. She said you had some new dinner thing we needed to talk about.”

Darcy allowed the surprise she felt to show. She leaned back in her chair and bit her lip. Nope, she needed a bit more information than that. “Can you just excuse me for a moment?” she asked, picking up the phone. She pressed the speed dial button for Pepper and to her relief, the woman answered immediately. “Hey girl what’s up?”

Pepper’s voice was amused and relaxed on the phone. “I have to say, Darcy I knew you’d be wonderful in this job but even I am impressed with the way you have be handling it. Jarvis showed me the footage of the meeting just now and it was both hilarious and also necessary. They are all still totally shifty with guilt.”

They both laughed and Darcy felt her shoulders relax. So she totally wasn’t fired. Thank god. “Oh thanks Peps I actually totally appreciate the feedback, I was a little worried I overstepped my authority.”

Pepper’s tone was serious. “Darcy you absolutely have the authority to do whatever you think is right. I completely behind you and so is Fury. We know that the team can be petulant and unwieldy. If they weren’t, you wouldn’t have this position. It’s exactly these skills we had in mind when we hired you.” Darcy’s eyebrows shot up.

“Not my extensive knowledge of Buffy and the X-Files?” Pepper only laughed. Darcy saw Alanah smile, though she was clearly trying not to listen to the conversation. Darcy smiled at her. “Hey so, the reason I called is because Alanah?” the girl nodded. “Is in my office and I was wondering what’s up?”

Pepper replied like it was obvious. “The dinners.”

“The dinners?”

“Yes. You said they were now compulsory and I thought it would be better if they were made by a professional. Alanah has just finished working for Taylor Swift as her personal chef and she is really brilliant. We’ll be finished with the new kitchen renovations soon, but she’ll need some guidance on what to make. I hope it’s OK that I sent her to you?”

“Oh yeah, that’s great. Thanks Pepsi! To be honest I didn’t really think that through, you’re amazing.”

“It’s what I’m here for. I’ll catch you soon Darcy, we’ll have to have another Vodka night when Sif returns from Asgard.”

Darcy grinned. “We totally do. OK babe, thanks and have an awesome day.”

Pepper made a kissy noise over the phone and hung up. Darcy’s girl gang was awesome. She turned to the girl in front of her. She was super young and Darcy was pretty stoked for her that she was already so successful. She gave her a crooked smile. “So Alanah, let’s talk about dinner.”

...

Darcy closed the door to her apartment and groaned audibly at the smell coming from her kitchen, her stomach rumbling along with her. Pepper hadn’t been wrong about renovations to the main dining room of the residential floors and so they had decided dinners would be at her place for the next few days. Alanah was making some curry of some sort and the smell was amazing. She looked around her place wondering if she should clean but really couldn’t be bothered, it was pretty tidy. Everyone would arrive shortly and Darcy decided all she wanted right now was a beer.

She walked over to her fridge, peeking at all the various pots on the stove as she went. Fucking unreal. “I’m pretty sure you are a wizard.” Was what she said to Alanah, who chuckled. She wondered if Pepper had told her about the reason that joke was so funny to Darcy. Oh well, she’d find out soon. There were so many reasons the people who worked here needed to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and Darcy being a real life witch was almost considered normal.

The first knock on the door came only ten minutes later and Darcy groaned from the couch where she was trying to work out a way to teach Thor about politics. Loki was easy; the giant labrador thunder god was not so much. It wasn’t so much that he was stupid as he was completely uninterested. Loki had warned her it would be difficult. She rose and made her way to the door, wondering if having the whole team in her home was the best idea. It had become a bit of a sanctuary since she got it, and it felt kind of weird.

It was Loki, which kind of surprised Darcy. He was usually late to her appointments. JARVIS had informed her that it was because he tended to get distracted and the AI always had to remind him. The god gave her a tiny smile, his eyes glittering. Which she returned with a crooked one of her own. “What’s up, Mischief Man?”

He raised his eyebrow. “Is it not dinner time?”

“Yeah, in a bit. Come in.” She had decided she wouldn’t be playing host, and in fact just wedged the door open. She led Loki over to her lounge area and he sat down, his long frame folding into one of her leather couches. Pepper had done wonders with her place when she furnished it. A lot of Darcy’s own stuff had been destroyed when some jerk searched it for who knew what last month, the couches and mattress had been cut open with a knife, the coffee table smashed in the fight that ensued with Clint and Tash when he was discovered. The Avengers had all insisted she move to the tower and with nowhere else to go, Darcy had reluctantly agreed. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it here, it was just that her place in the Village had been her own, paid for with her own money and everything in it was purely hers. This place was rad though, and absolutely massive. Jormungand had told her that Pepper had used her pinterest account to help her decorate this place and she’d been really touched by the personal effort she’d put in. It was way less shiny and corporate than the guest rooms she’d seen.

Loki, in his docs, his leather pants and quality black button down shirt made a fine picture where he sat in front of her instrument corner. She hadn’t had all that much time to mess around since she’d started nursing Loki back to health two months prior, but it was nice to have all her babies there whenever she felt like playing them. She closed her laptop and turned to him. “Did anything get done in your meeting with the Avengers today?”

He gave her an amused look. “Other than your rather delightful interruption you mean?”

She laughed. She’d been so pissed she hadn’t really thought too much about what she’d interrupted at all.

“Not really. There were several things discussed, but no action was required for any of them. I don’t really know why they keep asking me to these meetings.”

“How about because you’re really fucking smart? If-when something happens that needs action you’ll see. Your incredible brain will help them so much dude. You’re probably helping them already but you’re too intelligent to even notice the small things that seem so simple to you.” His expression was one of understanding and also one of disgust. Like, ‘Ugh that actually happens a lot because everyone is so stupid.’ “Look, it’s probably going to take a really long time for all of you to feel like a team, but you want to be used to them by the time anything really important happens, right?”

He nodded reluctantly. She knew he’d totally rather not have to deal with the Avengers, and she got it, she really did. The Avengers didn’t make sense. If Loki hadn’t attacked Stuttgart that time they wouldn’t even be a team, and now they were all living in the same tower, and it was often totally awkward. Clint totally didn’t mesh with Bruce or Jane, and Thor got on a few people’s nerves with his tendency to always want to turn something into a glorious battle- and with his habit of telling the story of that battle about twenty times after the fact. Tony was- well...he was Tony. He put them up in luxurious digs but he was often an asshole about it- though to his credit he’d actually taken on her feedback and was being way less sexist these days. She’d even found out that he’d made some changes to STARK Enterprises code of conduct and everything. Loki wasn’t the only one who felt out of place, they were all pretty used to working solo. Or, like Steve, they were used to working in a regimented military context, and this was a circumstance they were still getting used to. The fighting part, Darcy knew was totally the easiest bit of being in a superhero team. She wondered if the Fantastic Four and the X-Men had the same issues. She thought they probably did.

She was about to change the subject when Steve knocked on the doorframe. To Darcy’s delight and Loki’s, Jormungand was hovering behind him, carrying something. “Hey dudes! Come in!”

The boys walked over and sort of hovered by the coffee table. “Hi Darcy.” Steve smiled at her shyly. “Uh, When you were shot Jormungand suggested that I draw you a gift. I ended up making two, because we couldn’t decide on just one, so...here you go. Sorry they’re so late. They were supposed to be house warming gifts but took a while to finish, and then I had to get them framed and....” She could tell he was nervous but Darcy was incredibly touched.

“Steve! I can’t believe it!” she shot up and hugged him tightly.

He hugged her back stiffly. “Well, it was Jormungand’s idea.” Darcy turned and hugged Jormy just as tightly, and he hugged her back, giving her a kiss on the top of the head. He smelled nice. His hugs were always so good, and she was so glad for his friendship.

Darcy pulled back and took the first of the large parcels. The daughter of two successful artists, she was super familiar with handling this sort of packaging and made light work of opening it. Loki moved her laptop out of the way and she laid the first picture out on the table. It was a beautifully rendered pin up, done in gouache . Not only that, but it was of her- or a rather more glamorous and sexy version, while still being totally classy. It depicted her in her Halloween costume, slightly altered to suit the pin up aesthetic. Surprisingly she was totally OK with that, considering it was an outfit she was shot in not all that long ago. Her legs were curled up and her skirt spread out around her, her basket sitting prettily to the side. Next to her was Fenrir, depicted in his wolf form. They were sort of framed by semi menacing forest overlooked by a crescent moon and starry sky. It was really, really good. “We thought about making it sleeping beauty themed but decided against it.”

Darcy looked at Jormungand sharply, rubbing her left arm. Yeah, that wouldn’t have been a good idea; she still wasn’t over the fact that they had cursed her with that particular spell, even if it meant she still had her arm, sans giant burn hole. It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful, of course she was. It was just- Sleeping Beauty? Really? But that was beside the point right now. She looked at the artist. “Steve this is fucking incredible.”

The man blushed. She knew he didn’t often show people his work and was extremely touched that he would gift her some of it. She thought that maybe she would have to use this skill in their lessons in assimilation somewhere. Loki had moved to the couch next to her and she saw him looking at the picture with a critical eye and looking up to Steve, assessing. Darcy turned to the other parcel. It was double the size of the other one, and in landscape. It depicted all of the Avengers with Darcy in the middle, in her own separate oval, framed in what looked like Hel’s laurel, Muspellheim sage and lavender. There was also Sif, Hogan and in the Loki the larger group as well, they all looked to be guarding Darcy, like she was a queen or something. On the bottom was a beautiful script saying ‘Darcy Lewis, Darling of the Avengers.’ It was beautiful. No wonder it had taken him so long. “Fuck, Steve.” She had tears in her eyes. This was unbelievable. She spent time taking in all the detail, the weapons, and there expressions, right down to the quirk of Darcy’s smile and the amused glint in Loki’s eye. In her peripheral vision she saw the god inspecting it also. It was so big they had it placed on both of their laps, the other end resting on the coffee table. Finally she raised her head. Apparently the others had arrived and they had all come over to check it out. “Hey guys.” She wiped her cheeks, they were pretty wet. Loki helped her manoeuvre the heavy frame onto the floor gently and they leaned it against the couch as they stood. Well that was unnecessarily emotional. She sighed and waved everyone over to the table. “Let’s eat dudes.” They all started moving and she gave Steve and Jormungand another hug.

Alana had plated up and everything beautifully, like a boss, and everyone sat down to eat. There was freshly baked naan bread and chutneys on the side as well as the rice and at least three curries and dhal. It has amazing. Though he was playing it cool, she could see that Loki was slightly nonplussed and apprehensive at the strong smell. She’d only been feeding him relatively plain food so far so she watched him out of the corner of her eye to see what he did with it. He watched everyone for a moment, seeing what they did, and then took a piece of naan and broke it, using a bit to scoop up some chicken curry. When he tasted it he gave the slightest nod, and that was it. Loki liked curry. Darcy turned completely to her meal then, and tuned fully into the conversation. Jormungand was regaling them all with news on his peonies. He always spoke about his flowers with such passion it was hard not to be interested.  She smiled. She really liked the guy. Things had been a little awkward between Clint and Steve for a while after the archer accidently walked in on The Cap and the Magic Man making out about a month ago. It was a shame, really, because Clint had made quite the scene and it had only been the second time the two had kissed. 

Fire giants were super slow and careful when it came to romance, so Jormungand had been really put out by Clint being all “But I had totally seen him first”. So Awkward. Loki had actually stepped in and quietly asked Steve and Clint to step into his apartment for a talk. He’d asked Darcy to join them and it had been one of the most squirm-worthy moments of her life, for all Loki had actually been super amused and totally cool- for a fifteen hundred year old sort of villain/papa of the guy you’re interested in. He had sat them all down at his dinner table and given them all a look of feigned menace, but then laughed and told them about the courting practices of Fire Giants. Steve and Darcy had sort of picked up a tiny bit, knowing to go super gently but they didn’t really know why. Clint had swallowed. So... claiming was an actual thing, which was why Jormy had been so uncomfortable about Clint’s possessive behaviour. 

Apparently Fire Giant dudes tended to let the woman do the chasing, which made a lot of sense to Darcy. The women were all warriors and fierce bosses who rode around Muspellheim while the dudes stayed at home and fished and stuff. Steve had been like. "So..." and Loki had said that since he was a warrior it made sense that he took that role, for all he totally had a dick. It really went to show he was totally secure in his masculinity that he didn’t even seem at all uncomfortable with that assessment. Clint had just sat in his seat getting weirded out and everyone realised why Jormy hadn’t chosen to pursue anything with him. Clint just wanted a few nights of passion, where as Steve was sort of thinking in terms of relationship. 

After a while Loki had dismissed Clint to go to apologise to Jormy and they had continued to talk. He had started out with general anthropological facts, but then told a brief summary of his own experience. He said it was different for them because she was the queen and he wasn’t a farmer but a prince, but there were also some things about his sons that were totally different from general Fire Giants too. Most of them didn’t turn into wolves, for a start, and Fire dudes generally didn’t have any magic at all except stuff to do with growing plants and some ocean related stuff. Loki’s kids were totally peculiar not just in Aesir terms or in Earth terms but also in Fire Giant terms...

 It was actually super helpful, and really interesting. Darcy played with her curry on her plate. She and Fenrir still hadn’t done anything more than a light kiss on the lips. He was affectionate, but the truth was that Jormungand touched her more than her boyfriend did. She was pretty content to play it slow though, she was super into the dude, and it looked like he was into her, and that was enough for now. She had hoped that once his dad was better things would move forward but Fen and Jormy had had to go back to their farm and work hard at getting it up to scratch from where they’d left it for a little when she had been shot. She had been really busy too, so they had let it play out naturally. One of the biggest things, Loki had said is that the Fire Giants were really attached to their farm and stuff. And the Fire Giant women were super attached to each other and their nomadic lifestyle. He had turned to Steve and said that it was similar to how he was clearly not going to walk away from the Avengers and would always respond to a call for help. So there was always something pulling Fire Giants away from the ones they loved, even while their love for each other pulled them together. But they found balance, and it made the time they spent with lovers all the more special. Loki said that what he’d had with Fenrir’s mom was totally different to anything he had with anyone else because you never get sick of them. There is always a yearning in the pit of your stomach and every moment with them is really special. She got that, she really got that. There was no time to take advantage of the person’s presence; they were always special and precious to you. That was pretty rad.

She smiled at where Steve and Jormy sat close together but not needing to tough each other. It was actually kind of cool that the Lokisons had found the Avengers. It wasn’t like there were any Fire Giant women roaming around- or at least ones who didn’t want to murder them because of their heritage. And they’d found a bunch of people who weren’t all that weirded out by them and just rolled with the punches. They were all super weird here. She’d spoken to Jormy since that day and he said it had been so nice just to have someone interested in him like a person and she totally got it. People were often so interested in her body that they almost forgot she had a brain. Some of the things Hel had said had come back to her too. It was nice. She knew Steve had been struggling to meet someone who wanted to work at his own pace. It wasn’t that he was shy about sex or anything, but he wanted to enjoy getting to know someone, as that was half the fun. She got it, she did. Most of her recent relationships had only been about sex. She’d had fun with Natasha, but most of that fun was centred around multiple orgasms. That was totally different to how things were with her awesome florist boyfriend. He was always super glad to see her and always had a little present for her. They sometimes went out and other times just hung out on her couch. Other times they hung out in groups and that was rad too. In general, she was pretty content with things.

The meal came to a close and people started to leave. Darcy looked at their plates. Natasha had eaten about a quarter of her portion but at least she had eaten something. Thor had had about three plates full with Steve, Loki and Jormungand eating two each. Everyone else had finished their portion with varying stages of cleanliness. Bruce had been reading a science journal while he ate and she could see all the times he missed his mouth with his fork. After everyone had left and some cleaners came to tidy up Darcy exchanged a high five with Alanah. They had succeeded, more or less. They discussed dinners for the next week and the chef grabbed her knives and left. Darcy smiled at the staff and asked them to close the door when they left. She was showering and then having an early night. She paused as she walked past the gifts Steve had made for her. They’d been framed beautifully in what looked like cedar, which totally suited the lightness of the watercolour and brought out the quality of the paper behind the glass. She looked up at her picture wall, trying to figure out where to hang them. Well, the pin up was going into her bedroom, that was for sure, and the big guy really had to be in the centre of the picture wall. She’d bug Steve to come back and help her tomorrow.

She turned the lounge lights off, leaving the busy workers in the kitchen and heading off to her own space.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: discussions of anxiety and PTSD in this chapter x

Darcy was taking a time out at her desk with a cup of coffee when Tony knocked on her door holding a box of donuts. She gave him a wide smile over her coffee cup. “What brings you out of the bat cave Tone?”

He went and poured himself a coffee then sat down in her visitor’s chair and mirrored her, throwing his sneakers on the desk. He looked hella dishevelled and she knew he’d been on a lab bender recently.  He passed her the box of donuts and she chose a pink one with strawberries on the top and custard in the middle. These were definitely not dunkin’ donuts. “Hey Little Witch, I just thought I would pop by and get your advice on movie night choices. I was thinking of showing _The Punk Singer_ , what else would you recommend for a second one?”

“Oh _Girls Rock_ definitely. It’s about a rock and roll camp for girls it’s awesome.”

Tony nodded. “That definitely sounds like something I could get behind.” He took a massive bite out of a donut.

Darcy nodded. “Documentary night, huh?”

He shrugged. “Why not? It’s been a while, and you’d probably make us watch them anyway.” Darcy smiled. Those movies were definitely on the movies to watch list she’d given her three students. “Oh that reminds me. You’re going to get another student soon. I’m sure Fury & co will wait till it’s convenient for them to tell you so I thought I’d give you a heads up. Buck will be coming to live with us.”

Darcy nodded. So that was why he had really come, armed with donuts too. “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll start prepping.”

He seemed to want to say something else, but only took another bite.

“Is there something else?”

He stared at her for a moment, and sighed. “I had a chat to our resident lunatic god the other day.”

Darcy immediately frowned at the insult to her friend. At least he was an asshole about everybody. He still made jokes about Bruce’s anger issues and Clint’s run in with mind control, this wasn’t anything new. “Dude if he’s crazy you really can’t blame him, right?”

Tony shrugged. “Nah. But that’s the thing. He should at the very least have PTSD. He’s been acting really natural. I’m a little concerned that we’re missing something.”

He wasn’t wrong. Darcy had been prepared for a lot more trouble than Loki had given them. Hogan and Sif were still around just in case they were needed to help subdue him for his own safety. “I know, I’ve been thinking about it too. All I can come up with is that he is dealing with it on his own. He spends all his time alone. Also I think we did the right thing with Thor keeping out of his way and his kids being there from the beginning seems to have helped. It won’t heal everything, but it has healed some pretty old wounds. Apparently it’s the most time he’s spent with them since they lived in Muspellheim. Also, he’s kind of the god of lies, I’m pretty certain his pride won’t let him show us how it really is.”

Tony nodded, and wiped his hand over his face. “Yeah, that’s basically what he said. He didn’t say much, mind you, but he said he was OK. I-I’m just worried about you kiddo. You spend so much time with him and I don’t want you to get hurt if he snaps.”

Darcy kept frowning. “I’m sort of his family now Tone. I don’t think that will happen.”

“Darcy he killed his own father.”

“I know, but his real dad was a murderer and kind of a dick head. Look I’m not stupid, but I hang out with Bruce as well and I haven’t been hurt yet. Loki is fucked up, he doesn’t deny it and I’m not about to, but everyone in this weird group is too. He fits in here more than Thor does and you know it.” She softened, knowing she was getting a little heated and Tony was only trying to help, but she wasn’t about to give up her awesome friendship with the god. “I have been training with Tasha and Clint and JARVIS has my back, man. He rigged my ipod so that if anything happens he can talk to me through my headphones and get me to safety. I know how to get out of a room without too much trouble. Clint and Tasha made sure I know the building off by heart. I’m touched that you worry about me but believe me, I’m aware of this stuff. You guys never let me forget.”

He nodded unapologetically, his gaze searching hers for something. “I ah, I went ahead and asked him if you could do any defensive magic and he said you should be able to. He’s keen to teach you if you want.”

Darcy stared at him, eyes wide and mouth open. She was pretty sure Tony didn’t even really believe in magic. He hated it when people referred to it, though he enjoyed teasing her with her involvement with it. By this time neither of them had their feet on the desk, they both sat on the edge of their seat, leaning towards one another in friendly challenge.  She hadn’t even thought that she could use her magic for anything but healing, but apparently she could. “I’ll ah- I’ll talk to him.”

Tony gave her a look and nodded. “I suggest you do.” And left. Darcy fell back into her seat and sighed, rubbing her eyes behind her glasses. Tony and the others were all so serious about her safety it sometimes got on her nerves. Her hand went to her left arm, rubbing where the alien fire gun had blown a hole in it. It was all pretty serious around here though, the dangers weren’t imagined. And she hadn’t been lying to Tony, they were all as dangerous as each other. This was her life now, she lived with liars and killers who all got jumpy and had panic attacks and nightmares. Half of them didn’t eat and the other half didn’t sleep. No, Loki wasn’t the only danger around here, but all the same she would ask him about the defensive magic- it would be pretty cool if she could shoot sparks out of her hands or something. She finished her donut and coffee as Steve appeared at her door.

“Hey Cap!  Here to learn?” she pushed the box of donuts towards him and he took one.

He gave her a crooked grin and sat down. “Yes ma’am.”

She smiled, standing. “No need to sit down there cap, we’re going to the gallery. Did you bring your sketch book?”

He padded his bag. “Sure did.”

“Great. Can we take your bike?” she gave him her biggest puppy dog eyes and saw the exact moment he folded.

“Oh, I guess so, doll, but you have to wear a helmet.”

“Of course! Safety first Cap! Ok let’s get out of here.” She grabbed her backpack and switched her office lights off. Yes, it was a good day for an excursion.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Girl gang meeting + Sif and Loki adorableness

Sif gazed at her reflection in the full length mirror that took up most of one wall in her guest chambers in the tower. She dressed herself in the bindings of lace under garments, and then the dress which Pepper had insisted she buy. They had been shopping earlier in the day, and now were preparing for what Darcy named a ‘ladies night.’ From what Sif gathered it was a sacred rite where secrets were shared over alcohol, and she admitted to a small amount of trepidation, not being particularly fond of the company of only women, however wonderful these women of Earth were. It wasn’t as if she was inept at polite conversation or the arts of the court, it was only that she preferred that most honest of conversations- a spar- where you could let your skill with blade speak the words you wished to share. She zipped herself into the tiny garment, something called a cocktail dress. She had to admit it was lovely, and though it would be considered immodest in the courts of Odin she rather liked that it displayed her powerful arms and thighs so well. It also displayed significant amount of her powerful back, something only close friends and lovers had ever seen. It was a very dark blue, and hugged her figure down to mid thigh. A strap wrapped around her neck. She kept her long hair down, only brushing it out with her Unicorn horn comb from Asgard, a gift from Loki so many years ago. It was a priceless object, and one of the only gifts that he ever gave her to do with vanity- or at least only vanity and not something with dual purpose. Unicorn horn wasn’t a substance used for violence, only healing and protection. She stared at it, moving her fingers over the worn carving which he had rendered with his own hands. The imagery was simple; the motif was her glaive, sword and shield. Out of everyone, Loki had always been the one to understand that Sif was both woman and warrior, beauty and brawn, grace and cunning. He had ever insisted that she didn’t have to give up one to be the other. Jarvis informed her it was time to meet the others and she answered in the affirmative, strapping on her sandals and hiding her favourite knife on her person. She stashed her pistol in her purse and moved out of her chambers and headed towards Darcy’s home. She found Jane already in the elevator and gave her greeting.

The little woman looked up in surprise, her eyes wide. “Sif you look beautiful!”

Sif bowed her head in thanks and offered her own compliments. It was true that Thor had fallen for the woman for her intelligence and fierce bravery but it could never be said that she wasn’t beautiful. She was dressed in black, her brown hair pulled out of her face, allowing her big brown eyes to shine out.

“I sometimes forget that you’re way used to getting dressed up. I’m not. I admit I’m much more comfortable in jeans.” She was blushing and obviously less than comfortable.

“And I also am more comfortable in my own amour. But it is true, my duties in Odin’s court have always involved gowns and shoes just as much as sword and glaive.” They moved out into the hallway, passing Loki’s door and entering through Darcy’s open entrance.  

“What are they like? These feasts of Asgard?” Jane asked as they all sat down. They were still waiting on Natasha and Hel.

Sif sighed. “Things are very different now, now that Loki isn’t involved, and there hasn’t even been one since Frigga-“ She sighed, brushing that aside. “But there was a time, back when Loki was married and the courts were so excited to have a new princess and things were much simpler. There would be much dancing, merriment and song. The Scalds would sing of love just as often as war, and the fashions...” she drifted off, remembering. It was so long ago, so much had changed since then.

“Loki was married?” Pepper asked. Jane’s face paled she obviously knew a little of the story.

Sif flinched. “Oh yes. Odin had found him a wife in the courts in an attempt to curb his mischievous ways. She... she turned out to be someone other than she claimed, and was the source of much of the pain he carries now. I shouldn’t have mentioned her.”

Pepper touched her knee gently. “Maybe you could tell us about the fashions instead.”

Sif smiled at the brilliant woman. “There was this one dress, one of my favourites, that Loki gifted me after one of the many times that I saved his life on a hunting trip that became complicated. It had a leather bodice like armour, while the full skirts were of the most delicate silk, which flowed around you. You know how that feels, as you walk. It was a truly beautiful piece. I still have it, though I haven’t worn it in centuries.”

Little Darcy smiled brightly “Can you wear it one time?”

Sif gave her a smile and nodded. “Yes, if there is a ball or feast here I will wear it. It’s about time I made a good memory in it.” She looked at the wall of pictures, a feeling of melancholy falling over her at the memories of Sigyn and her evil ways.

Pepper smiled gently, squeezing her knee again.  Darcy changed the subject back. “Loki designs clothes?”

Sif laughed. “Yes, he designed many dresses for me, and a few for his wife. She was particularly upset at him for that dress I mentioned, saying it was going to start a fashion- and it did, women are still wearing armour with their gowns even now.”

Jane nodded, she had worn such gowns during her short stay. “So you started that?”

Sif laughed again, still feeling a little proud of that one. “Yes, yes I did. Truly It was the ones he made for Sigyn that truly enforced it as a trend. To make it up to her he made her several, and they had different types of armour as adornment. He really is a talented designer. I’d always wondered how he knew so much about the woman’s body but then I found out that he can change into a woman- that actually explained so many things.” The way she said it made them all laugh.

Natasha arrived and Pepper rose to pour champagne for everyone.

“Wow so he can change into a woman. Did you guys ever ...?” Darcy wiggled her eyebrows.

Sif let them stew for a little while, looking at Natasha who smiled, she wanted to know too. “Just once.” Everyone cheered, raising their champagne in the air, wanting to give her the high five shake. Sif grinned. For all Midgard had some strange practices and was behind in terms of magic and technology, Sif had found that they were very accepting of relationships between the same sex. Her involvement with Natasha had been met only with encouragement, and she knew a few of the Avengers had such desires. It affected her more than she ever realised it would, not having to keep such things a secret. Now here people were actually impressed that Loki could do such a thing, not naming it unnatural or disgusting as they had in Asgard when he had been discovered.

Darcy continued to ask questions. “What’s he like in bed?”

Jane blushed. “Darcy he’s your boyfriend’s dad!”

“Yeah, so? He’s also my friend, and I just _know_ he’s good. Come on Sif! Dish it.” Sif nodded. This was actually enjoyable, having a conversation such as this in an environment without judgement. The women of Muspellheim had also encouraged such talk but that was so long ago.

“Remember when we were together it was a very long time ago. We were each other’s first.”

“Awww.” Pepper cooed. “That is so sweet. How young were you?”

“We were friends all through our childhood, though we were well into our youth when I finally let him into my bed. To answer your question Darcy we were well suited when it came to bedsport. You are more familiar with the types of ... desires we both have but in Asgard we were very lucky to find one another. Someone with the desire for energetic and passionate play. He is very mischievous, you know. Lots of fun in the bedchamber. But we ended up fighting too much and one grows tired of such arguments over time. But yes, he was very good when tied up.” she smiled cheekily, happy to be able to talk about such things.

Darcy did what she titled a ‘fist pump’. All of the women in the room whooped and they went on to exchange stories. Natasha told some tales of men with strange desires and Darcy told of a selfish lover that she had punished in an amusing way. Sif watched Pepper. For all she was a strict and powerful woman in administrative duties, she clearly was a different person when it came to activities of the night. “What about you, Pepper? What happens behind closed doors with the ‘ _Man of Iron’_?” she teased suggestively.

Pepper took a swig of champagne and Darcy topped up her glass. “Oh, you know, Tony and I like to have ... guests in the bedroom from time to time- with varying degrees of success. There was the time we had doctor Banner-“ she was beetroot red by this point.

“Oh!” there were more cheers as Pepper told the tale of the quiet doctor ‘loosening up.’ Apparently he had a lot hidden under his well mannered shell.

“Oh my gosh I’m never going to be able to look him in the eye again!” Jane said, red faced.

“What about you Jane, you still haven’t told me if you’ve done it wearing Thor’s helmet?” Darcy jumped in, poking Jane in the side.

The red scientist blushed even more and Sif laughed. She was well aware by now of Thor’s fetishes. “I think you’d look rather fetching in the helm Lady Jane.” She teased. Jane hid her face in her hands and everyone laughed. The answer was obvious.

Pepper changed the subject. “You know what I can’t get out of my head?”

Natasha raised her eyebrow. “You’ve been thinking about Steve and his new love, haven’t you?”

Pepper bushed prettily. “Come on you can’t say that you haven’t thought about Jormungand naked. He’s _gorgeous_. And both of them _together_?” she fanned herself as Darcy laughed and Jane blushed. Clearly Jane was the only one in the room who hadn’t thought about it.

Natasha nodded without shame. “Oh believe me. I’ve thought about it. The things I could do with that...Steve is a lucky son of a bitch.” She took a shot of a clear liquid from a thin bottle. Sif tilted her head to the side. She hadn’t had anyone with a penis since Loki, though she didn’t spread that around. The thought of two beautiful men together did ignite the imagination however.

Hel appeared in the kitchen and poured herself a drink before strolling over. “What have you done to poor Jane?”

“Oh, we were just objectifying your brother and Steve, you know how it is.” Darcy said, raising and giving Hel a kiss on the cheek.

Hel waved it off, used to such talk but gave a stern word on acting on those impulses. “Jormungand is very precious, I’m so glad he found such a nice, caring guy.”

Natasha turned her gaze on Hel. “Tell me about the warrior. What’s he like in bed.”

Hel allowed her frustration to show. “We keep getting interrupted! I don’t know! Though I can tell you that his tongue is very talented despite his lack of conversation.” This got the desired reaction of female laughter and Sif tried not to think of one of her oldest friends in a compromising position. She had to admit she had been surprised in Hogan’s choice of woman.

“Has Hogan had many lovers Sif?” Darcy asked curiously. “You hear about Volstagg’s wife and Fandral’s conquests but you never hear about Hogan.”

Sif nodded. “He once had a wife. A shy girl from Vanaheim. She died in childbirth many centuries ago. He was quiet in our youth, but this was why he became grim.” It wasn’t the truth. The truth was much more grizzly and violent, Sif didn’t lie often, but this would ensure the topic never came up again, and protected her friend’s broken heart.” Hel obviously knew the truth, however, as she gave Sif a look holding thanks and shared pain. Sif shook herself, this was a night of celebration.

“What about the others?” Darcy continued, “Have you ever slept with Fandral?” she asked in a teasing tone.

Sif allowed her disgust to show. “Never.”

They all laughed and the night continued on in a similar vein. They never made it out the door, ordering a curious repast called sushi. And talking into the night about men and their various failings and uses. It was, Sif admitted, quite a wonderful way to spend an evening.

...

Loki was exhausted. He tried to avoid sleep as much as he could but much as he was loathe to admit it, he was made of flesh and blood and needed sleep as much as anybody else. He bathed himself in the Midgardian bath; avoiding looking at the near skeletal body in the mirror before moving to his dressing room and putting on soft pyjamas which Darcy had gifted him. He had just climbed into bed when he noticed the tall silhouette in the doorway to his bedchamber.  He gave a genuine smile. “And how was your night of merriment?”

Sif moved inside and lay on the bed next to him, over the covers. He could smell the alcohol on her breath and he smiled. It was good for Sif to loosen up, she never imbibed if she wasn’t comfortable. She looked at the shimmering starscape on the roof, her hair spayed out on the pillow next to where he sat. “It was better than I expected.”

Loki smiled but didn’t tease. He knew exactly what she had expected. No, the women of Avengers Tower were nothing like the women of Odin’s court. Instead he let his eyes travel up her form in the dim light; she looked truly stunning in this Midgardian costume. “The fashions of Midgard suit you. I’ve always thought it was a crime to cover up so much of that beautiful body, though I admit I enjoyed being one of the only people to know what you look like under your leathers.” She hit his leg and he laughed. “If possible this gown makes your legs look _even longer.”_ He raised his eyebrows, a wry smile on his face.

Sif rolled her eyes, though he could see she was pleased. He had ever tried to be generous with his words after their short romance, reminding her of her beauty and grace as well as strength of sword and character. “Thank you, Pepper helped me pick it out. She was interested in the dresses you designed, you know. I wouldn’t be surprised if she approaches you about it.”

Loki frowned at that. It had been so very long since he had put his mind to dressing a woman. It might be enjoyable to work with Pepper on such a project. She clearly had an eye for design if this apartment was any measure. “You were always enjoyable to dress.” He said.

She looked at him. “And Sigyn wasn’t?”

Loki het his head fall back on the headboard. Sigyn. “I ever preferred that woman without a dress on. She tended to be a little more honest that way.”

Sif snorted at that. Loki looked down at her. The wretch was falling asleep on his bed. It was a tradition nearly as old as they were for all it hadn’t happened in fifty years. She opened her eyes and pouted. “You’re so thin Loki.” Clearly she’d had a significant amount to drink. He covered her face with his large hand, his palm on her forehead. She brushed it away. Loki had to admit this was nice. He had missed their easy friendship.

“Do you remember the armour you had, the black suit?” Loki stiffened. Where in the nine had that come from?

“Yes. It was my favourite set I ever owned. II think I looked rather fetching in lilac.”

Sif nodded. “I took it, you know. It was one of the first times I went against a direct order from Odin. He told me to destroy it but I hid it instead, and all your female clothes.” She was on her side now, curling up, her leg brushing his comfortably. 

He stared, for all she didn’t see him. “Really?” He hadn’t changed into his female form for so long. Sure, he’d put on female glamours, but hadn’t made the actual change. He looked down at his left arm where there was a binding bracelet that Odin had put on him at the time of his discovery, preventing him from changing. He supposed he didn’t really need to wear it anymore; he’d unravelled the enchantment as soon as his magic had repaired itself. But kept the bracelet to prevent Odin from knowing. “Why do you bring this up now?”

“Oh I don’t know. It came up in conversation tonight; Darcy asked if I’d been with you as a woman. They were all very impressed at that particular trick. I’m thinking they would enjoy it if you could show them.”

Loki laughed. Yes, Little Darcy would like that particular talent of his. “Maybe, it would have to be when the Oaf was away or he’d put me through a window.”

Sif snorted again. “Brother you must stop this nonsense.” Loki snorted as well. It had been so long since he’d heard Sif mock her beloved liege lord.

“Didn’t stop him from dressing as a woman when it suited him.” He said wryly.

Sif laughed into the pillow. “He looked so ridiculous. I wish I had a Midgardian camera.”

“What are you talking about? He was a beautiful bride.” They both laughed at the remembered picture of Thor as a bride. He sobered. “You should head to bed, Sif. If you wake up here you’ll feel as if you must ignore me for a whole month to make up for it.”

She looked up at him, and he couldn’t resist brushing her hair from her face gently. It would be sometime till she was this close to him again. His Sif. He decided right there that if he was ever going to be sane again he would have to lure her back to his side. If he was truly honest he had been missing her for centuries. She groaned and leaned into him.

“Nnnnh. Don’t want to move.”

He smiled and poked her. “Come on or I’ll carry you to your chambers and Jarvis will show the recording to Tony.”

She jumped up and looked at him. “You wouldn’t.” It was almost painful, having her here. The way she was crouched on the covers uncaring, he could see right down her dress, displaying the lacy delicacies Midgardians passed for undergarments covering her delicious charms. He turned his eyes away, suppressing a multitude of thoughts. How much had she had to drink? He frowned as he thought that it was probably Natasha’s doing.

“You know I would.” He told her, and flicked a piece of her hair.

She pouted again and moved backwards from his bed. “Fine. But I’m still ignoring you for a month.”

He huffed a laugh. “Whatever my Lady wishes. Sleep well Sif.” She nodded, and vacated the room, leaving the scent of her perfume on the pillow. After he heard his front door bang shut Loki groaned as he lay down, hoping sleep found him soon. After more than a thousand years the wretch didn’t know what she did to him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Darcy have a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: Loki has a panic attack in this chapter.

Darcy woke up to JARVIS’ concerned prompting. “Nnnngh. What is it?”

“Ms  Lewis it is His Highness Prince Loki. He seems to be having a panic attack. His heart rate and breathing are affected.”

Darcy groaned, but crawled out of bed. The clock to the side of her bed told her it was only 2AM, she had only had an hours sleep.

She grabbed a bottle of water from her cupboard and slipped next door. JARVIS unlocking her neighbour’s door for her. She moved over to his bedroom, whispering a request that JARVIS turn the lights on dimly. He complied. Loki was curled up against the headboard of his massive bed, hyperventilating. “Hey Loki. I’m here.”

He jerked, backing away from her and she didn’t touch him, just kept talking to him, and making references to things they’d talked about before. Eventually he loosened up a little and she asked him to breathe with her. In through the nose, out through the mouth. He closed his eyes and copied her. She reached out and gently took his skinny wrist, which he allowed. His pulse was still extremely fast so she just stayed like that, breathing. He leaned back against his headboard, uncurling a little and she did the same. “You totally don’t have to talk about it, because I know I’m probably not going to get it, but you know, I’m here if you need to.”

He looked over at her. “Darcy you truly do not want to know. The universe you live in is far kinder than anything I dream about.”

She nodded. “I get it. Did you want to tell me about a good memory instead? Again, you don’t have to, but it might help.”

He was quiet for a while, his pulse slowing ever so slightly under her fingers. Finally he spoke. “Changing is one of the most exhilarating things. When I first met her- Angrboda- she spoke of how wonderful it would be if all men could experience being women. In her culture womanhood is revered, you understand, so to her it would be so good. I had already started studying for it and she encouraged me to, telling me to come to her when I had found a way. It’s not the same as changing into another man or a beast, to change into a woman I had to prove myself to Yggdrasil, prove that I deserved it. But eventually, ten years later I achieved it.”

Darcy smiled. Ten years. That was huge. She imagined it was similar to Jane pursuing the bifrost, or Tony inventing, but with thousands of years to do it.

“Of course most mages who had achieved it before had taken centuries to achieve the same but the incentive I had for finding the answer was that I had been invited to study the culture of Fire Giants, more specifically their rites with dragons.”

Darcy nodded. Fenrir and Jormungand had referred to dragons before. She tilted her head to the side but didn’t speak. “had spent that whole time preparing of course, and eventually I was ready to go. I had a set of armour and whole wardrobe, and had studied the woman’s body, her monthly bleed, the stages of pregnancy- for all I didn’t plan to find myself in that position- or even tangling with a man- I studied it just in case. I escaped to a cottage and spent time in my female form, and I have to admit that time was one of the most content that I have ever had.” His eyes were distant and Darcy let him stay there for a while.

“What did you do? While you were at the cottage?”

He smiled at her. “Well the most refreshing part of course was that I was away from the palace. So a significant part of my contentment was what I wasn’t doing. My wife at the time had been quite ... demanding.” He shuddered- there was obviously more to that story, but Darcy wasn’t inclined to ask. “But to answer your question I spent time hunting and fishing in order to eat, picking mushrooms and berries, other wild food... I spent time embroidering....”

“You can embroider?”

He smiled, a little smug. “Yes, I have quite the talent for needlework. You see, my mother taught me magic as she had been taught, with weaving and braiding and stitching. Did she teach you this way?”

Darcy shook her head. “We didn’t have enough time, probably. She cut straight to the chase with me.”

Loki nodded. “Yes I suppose. I was very young; my fingers were quite chubby at the beginning, though I managed to become quite proficient over the centuries.” He huffed a laugh. “There have been many times that I braided Sif and Thor’s hair before battle. It came in handy when I was a woman.” Darcy barely restrained herself from squealing at the thought of a baby Loki with chubby fingers.

“Can you show me? In an illusion? I bet you were a super hot lady.”

He smiled rather smugly. Yeah he was. He turned his right hand and there on the bedspread was a beautiful woman.

“Holy fuck.” He laughed. Tall, taller than Sif, and a little curvier too. She was wearing layers of floral silk and a woollen vest, which lay open, “I mean, your tits! How did you get such a good rack?”

He laughed again, blushing. “It’s simply how I came! Though I have to admit they were a little troublesome in battle, they were very enjoyable in the bedchamber.”  It was her time to laugh.

“Yeah, boobs are the best. So did you and Angrboda...?”

He gave her a look, but answered anyway. “As a woman? Yes. I have to admit I was very naive. She had planned to seduce me from the start but I was genuinely there to gain knowledge. I travelled with the women of her tribe and stayed in her tent. It was only a week before I found myself in her bed.  Relations between the same gender aren’t very common in Asgard. Sif is the only woman I know who has that preference, though she finds bedmates so presumably there are far more, but she keeps their secrets. However on Muspellheim it is a little more of a regular occurrence, so the other women of her clan teased, but I received no judgement. It was very refreshing.  Sex as a woman is...” his expression was hilarious. Darcy nodded.

“I know, it’s awesome. Though, you’re lucky, you probably have only been with women who knew what they were doing. I can assure you that there are so many dudes who don’t even know what a clit is. Oh my god I bet you’d be one of the most cliterate men out there!”

This made Loki lose his shit in a way Darcy had yet to see. The Prince truly laughing was a beautiful thing and Darcy vowed to try to make it happen more often. “I bet you looked hot in your armour, can you show me?”

Loki had a funny look in his face, but he waved his hand again and there she was in all her splendour. Because he was a totally drama queen he’d included a breeze in the illusion, so that Lady Loki’s skirts and bits of her hair fluttered in the wind. Her black hair was tied up in a braided crown, showing that yes, his talent with hair was as good as he professed. Her armour was mostly made from a soft, supple black leather, and the metal was also black, the buckles and everything. The under clothes were lilac, contrasting awesomely with the rest of it. The illusion carried a black shield and massive spear. Her expression deadly. What a bad bitch. She looked like something from _Underworld_ or something. Darcy looked over at him and whistled comically. Loki chuckled and flicked his wrist and another figure approached Lady Loki. She was taller than Loki, and slightly thicker, her build strong and muscular. Darcy realised almost immediately that this was the famous Angrboda, Loki’s lost love. She looked at the illusion almost reverently. The woman had silver hair, fluttering in the breeze, kept from her face by a leather headband. Her clothing was similar to the outfit Loki had shown before, floral layers, though there was a leather breastplate and leggings. She had a golden shield which looked Asgardian, and a spear. She had a massive broadsword at her side. She looked almost Iranian, or Mongolian, a similarity to both, but alien to either. Her skin burned to leathery appearance from Muspellheim’s two suns, but silver hair and violet eyes that seemed to glow. The illusion of Angrboda possessively grabbed Lady Loki around the waist and kissed her barely exposed neck. There was no doubt who was in charge in that relationship. “Fuck, Loki she’s possibly the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” She turned to see he had tears in his eyes, for all they didn’t fall. He nodded, swallowing.

Loki nodded. “I swear that she is the most beautiful woman to ever exist in the nine realms, though admittedly I may be a little biased. Fierce and brave Sif is, of course, only just second in that assessment. And Hel, for all I still think of her as a little girl. Frigga...” He kissed Darcy softly on her head. “And then there is you.”

Darcy smiled. She loved their little friendship. He was totally not flirting with her, but at the same time she knew he meant the compliment. He flicked his hand again and the whole bedspread filled with a camp setting, women in those floral layers carrying out different tasks, horses grazing in the distance. The tents were totally similar to Mongolian gers, though they were more colourful, and some were plated in what looked like copper. It looked like a pretty great way to live, if she was honest. In the distant skies she caught a movement. “Is that?”

“Yes. Dragons.” He brought them forward and she gasped. They were a copper colour mostly, though they varied. But there was a definite metallic sheen to their scales, making it look as if they were wearing armour. There was one that was black, though.

“Thank you, Loki for showing me.” Darcy was feeling totally sleepy but this was really cool. She wanted to ask if he’d show her Asgard but didn’t want to ruin his mood. He nodded. She hadn’t taken her hand away from his wrist, and his pulse had settled down. "Alright Lokes I’m going to go to bed. I assume you don’t want me to stay here?”

He shook his head. “Thank you ever so much Darcy, I – these episodes often last a lot longer and I end up with broken possessions.”

“Any time. Do you mind if JARVIS informs me of any other episodes?”

Loki looked like he was going to say no. “Look man, I know Tony already spoke to you but it’s not unusual. I mean, Clint and Tony can’t accidently burn stuff but they both have pretty regular panic attacks, and Steve gets nightmares all the time, Natcsha barely eats, you know? So don’t feel like it’s something you have to hide, it’s a totally normal responce to what you’ve been through. I’d be in a much worse position.”

Loki stared at her. “You’d be dead.”

She swallowed. “Yes I would, but that’s kind of my point. Even when Sif dragged you in here bleeding you were still the most badass person in the building.”

Loki gave a tiny smile. “Alright, the spirit can inform you, unless I am violent. Then I would ask him to make sure you cannot enter.”

Darcy didn’t like that, but she got it. “Can we ask Steve to come to you then?” Loki didn’t like that but he nodded. “Thanks Lokes. Ok I’m going to go back to bed. Sweet dreams OK?”

He smiled, and she knew it was a fake one.

She gave a small wave and left quietly, heading back to her own apartment. She leaned on her door when she closed it. Why did Angrboda have to die? Darcy had a feeling that out of all of the things that Loki had nightmares about, all the torture and punishment, it was the death of Angrboda that was the thing that had broken his heart the most. She hoped that Sif could go a little way to repairing that particular damage. She smiled. Yes, she had no doubt that those two were on their way to getting back together. Darcy just hoped it would work out this time.

...

After the child left Loki sat on his bed staring. He waved away the illusion but kept the image of his love, allowing two tears to crawl down his cheeks unseen. His chest ached. When he had heard of her death he had felt as if he himself would die. He had stopped eating or drinking, becoming as thin as he was now. His mother had had to nurse him for almost five years. He hadn’t left his bedroom in that entire time, too weak with the loss he had sustained. It was only when the children’s grandfather and Sif had spirited his beloved kids into the city that he had rallied. They had lived there for some time in the courts of Odin, disguised as other people before they were discovered and taken from him once more. Loki groaned. He had wanted to die then.

He flicked the illusion away. His children were gloriously tough. Hel had survived worse than Loki, if he was honest, and she had come out as the mistress of Helheim, so he really had nothing to complain about. He steadied his breathing and the pain in his chest lessened. He thought again of the cottage in Asgard and the tents of Muspellheim. Yes, he would dwell here, and rally. He would study with Darcy and find his way back into Sif’s bedchamber. He would repair his relationship with Thor. Then, with all of those allies by his side, he would defeat Thanos, grinding him into the dust along with those cursed infinity stones. He nodded, though there was no one to see it, and he rose to shower the nervous sweat from his body. Yes, he thought, as the hot water flowed over his body for the second time that night. He could find a way to have a home here.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alien romance pt 1

Darcy tried to play it cool but she failed miserably. She was making dinner for Fenrir tonight. She felt like she hadn’t seen him in what felt like an age but was probably only two weeks. They’d called and Skyped, and he’d popped into her office a few times over her lunch break but they hadn’t really spent any decent amount of time together since she’d woken up the second time from the sleeping beauty curse and moved into the apartment next to Loki’s.

Not only that, but the common kitchen was all finished so Alanah now had her own kitchen to use and there weren’t staff floating around her apartment anymore, she had her space back. She lit a candle that was named ‘campfire’ and brought up some street jazz to listen to as she headed for the kitchen. She had never been much of a cook, but since her magic had woken up she’d been able to figure it out, like suddenly she understood the sciency side of what was happening and so she was better able to grasp how to make it good, and not be all tough or burned or undercooked. She smiled happily. That didn’t mean she was up for doing anything fancy just yet. She’d had the ingredients of mac and cheese sent up. Well OK, maybe a little bit fancy, but that was because she’d splashed out on some fancy cheeses and truffle salt. She set a pot of water to boiling and pulled out her ingredients.

It was so weird thinking that she used to find this stuff so stressful, but now as she melted way too much butter to be good for you into a shiny new pan pepper had got for her with her new kitchen she found herself unwinding. She measured out her flour and added it, mixing it with the butter to form a paste.  She turned off the heat and added milk a little at a time until it became the consistency she wanted and pulled out the cheeses she’d grated. Maybe it had been learning spell work as well that had taught her how to cook better. Prep work dude. It made all the difference in spell making and cooking. There was probably a life lesson in there but Darcy’s brain was currently occupied with cheesy melty goodness and keeping it from burning. When the sauce was done she saw that her water was boiling she threw the bag of pasta in and let that shit get to al dente. She exited her kitchen and moved over to set the table. Pepper had given her a fully stocked kitchen complete with gorgeous handmade crockery by a local maker. Darcy had no idea where Pep had found out that she was a fan of this ceramicist but it was a total win. There were tigers hand painted on the white china with jungle leaves and shit in vibrant greens all round. She also now had some pretty fine glass wear and shit and Darcy was enjoying the chance to lay out a properly romantic table for two.

There was a knock at the door and Darcy frowned. It was still an hour till the wolf man was supposed to arrive. She opened the door to her neighbour, who was currently leaning against the doorway casually and wearing a wicked knowing smile. She narrowed her eyes. “What’re you up to, Mischief Man?”

“Hello Ms Lewis, I only stopped by because I wanted to thank you for the gift you gave me so many weeks ago. Here is a gift in return.” He pulled a small box out of the air with a flourish, and Darcy took it with a little trepidation. The gift he was referring to had been a piece of nostalgia intended to help Loki and Sif open up communications again, and she had no doubt Loki was aware of his timing with his own. Inside the beautiful painted wooden box was some loose leaf tea, though it was definitely not from anywhere on earth; it was coloured a delicate blue with pink flower petals in it.

She levelled a stern gaze at the god over her glasses. “And uh, were you going to tell me about any particular significance this tea holds to Fenrir, Silvertongue?”

Loki’s smile softened to something less wicked, and a little more conspiratorial. “You remember our conversation not too long ago about uh...”

“Uh, yeah.” They both shuffled a little awkwardly. They were friends and also he was Fen’s dad. It was actually surprisingly not that awkward very often, but that didn’t mean it never was.

He cleared his throat. “You don’t have to do it this way, but generally at a meeting between the men and the women of a clan- if a woman is interested in a serious courtship with a man she will invite him to her fire and they will share tea, which is a polite way for them to begin proceedings. I understand you two both went to the seaside and shared a meal right at the very beginning, however I thought that perhaps you would like for a way to have an open and candid conversation and this may be an acceptable avenue to bring that about?”

Darcy thought about it and quirked an ironic smile. “Thanks pops! Any other traditions like this I should know about?”

Loki gave her another cheeky grin, the particular grin he smiled whenever they joked around about sex and bodies and stuff. “I feel that perhaps Hel would be a better one to ask about that. This is as far as I will interfere.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes again. “Loki are there any substances in this tea that I should be worried about?”

He smiled again. “Not in the way you are thinking, well...” He took a breath and started again. “There are three teas. This tea uh... encourages truth to be spoken. It is not strong enough that you _must_ tell the truth, but it is an encouragement. The second encourages ... feelings of a sexual nature – you would call it an aphrodisiac here. The third is much stronger and more magical and encourages conception. These traditions help things along. They help the couple know where they stand with one another, where they are in the relationship, as they have less opportunity to see one another and play games such as the ones other cultures play. Fire Giants feel things so deeply and so strongly that love is less a game for them.”

Darcy chewed on her lip and stared at the box in her hands as she nodded her understanding. It made a lot of sense, and probably actually did help. She suddenly remembered her pasta and bolted, putting the box on the table while she dashed for the bubbling pot. Loki wandered inside and inspected her gallery wall where Cap’s piece was displayed prominently between a series of prints by Geoff McFetridge and a small piece of her father’s work. She drained the pasta and dumped it back into the pot, mixing in the cheesy sauce. Everything was then dumped into her casserole dish and covered in parmesan and mozzarella. She threw it into the oven and turned back to Loki. “So do I serve tea after dinner?”

He turned back to her, the braid in his hair swinging. He’d been wearing one sometimes over the last few weeks. It was only one of the subtle changes he’d made since hanging out with his kids more. “Yes, I should think that is a good time.”

“Is there any particular way to do it, or...”

“I should think that the smell on its own should tell him what you are doing. There is a small ritual but as you are not camped out in a woollen tent on the plains of Muspellheim, I feel that you would not need to act all of that out, simply having the tea in your possession, and offering it will be enough- he will know what to do after that.”

“That won’t offend him? Chopping up his mom’s traditions?”

He paused, a thousand miles away, probably hundreds of years away. “I don’t think so. His mother was rather... loose with the traditions herself.” His dreamy eyed reminiscent smile made Darcy wish for the thousandth time that she had met the woman in question. Not that that wouldn’t be the most intimidating experience ever.                                           

Darcy caught his eye as she thought of something that had been on her mind for a while. “OK. Hey Loki? But... something I’ve been thinking about... I’m not a warrior woman. Like, at all. Not like Hel, or her mom, not even like Natasha...why would Fenrir want to drink tea with me?” She was slightly embarrassed talking about this stuff with Loki, but he was her friend and she kind of needed to know. He had been claimed by the queen, even though he was totally not a submissive farmer boy. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to answer her.

The Prince smiled at her softly. Darcy was pretty stoked that she got to be Loki’s friend; he definitely wasn’t like this with anyone else in the tower except maybe Sif. “But Lady, you are fierce and brave indeed. You may not be violent but you have a sense of justice and fierce loyalty and you care for your clan. These are all parts of the Fire Giant way. You have many qualities that would make you an excellent queen and a wonderful leader. It is not only about battle, but about looking after one’s own, and you do that every day. I feel that if you were to travel with the nomads on the plains you would not suffer too much. You would be able to keep up with those fierce ladies easily. We’ll have to see about teaching you to ride, though.”

She smiled as her embarrassment softened slightly, but definitely still caused her cheeks to colour. She’d been wanting to see the boys’ farm and meet their precious horses for a long time. “Yeah I guess. Hey thanks Loki.”

Loki nodded and bowed. “I shall take my leave of you now.” Darcy only gave him a nod of her own and he left, closing the door softly behind him.

Darcy stood at the bar of her kitchen suddenly nervous. Tonight hadn’t been about pushing things forward, as she’d already decided that she didn’t want to push Fenrir. But if Loki thought he needed a push then maybe he did? She chewed on her lip, staring at the box sitting innocently on the table. It was quite small; obviously it only held tea for two in it. She walked over to the table and snatched it up, taking it with her to her bedroom so Fenrir wouldn’t find it in the kitchen. She looked at her watch. Only fifteen minutes to put on lady clothes. She wrenched open her wardrobe doors. OK _Darcy, some ‘let’s-talk-about-our-feelings-but-I’m-still-a-total-badass’ clothes_. She decided to take a leaf out of Loki’s book and pulled out some leather-ish leggings and a soft oversized grey marle v neck t-shirt that fell softly over her breasts and allowed the tiniest bit of her black lace bra to show. She let her curls fall over her shoulders and put on a long pale pink cashmere cardigan. Her makeup had softened over the day and she saw that it still looked great so she left it, swinging out of her dressing room and padding over to the table to light the candles she had there just as Fenrir knocked on her door.

She swung it open to see that her biker florist boyfriend had totally dressed up and boy, did it work for her. He was wearing a dark green button down shirt that verged on black and some black pants which fit him incredibly well. He’d put his hair up in a fucking man bun that Darcy had to admit looked damn fine, particularly as it gave her a rare glimpse of his long neck that the open collar of his shirt was displaying so nicely. Remembering that he was a fire giant and she couldn’t jump him right where he stood she made a show of looking him over instead and whistled. “ _Damn_ boy.” She teased; giving him a scorching look and leaving the door open as she walked to the kitchen. Touching him wouldn’t be a good idea right now, as she knew she wouldn’t want to let go. He gave her an easy smile and followed her inside, watching her ass as she moved purposefully away. “I hope you’re in the mood for some soul food?”

He leaned his elbows on the bar and watched as she made a show of bending over and pulling her home cooked melty masterpiece out of the oven.

“That smells incredible.” He said and she smiled, proud of her newfound skills. This wasn’t any packet mix shit, no sir. She fussed around with the brioche and tomatoes she’d got for some tomato toasts on the side. Like bruschetta but totally not. She realised everything about tonight was kind of oozy and soft and comforting and she smiled sweetly at her love interest, who was relaxing right before her very eyes. “Tell me about the farm?”

“It’s all back on track, finally.” He said. “I mean, we’ve spent a little bit of time helping out some neighbours as well. They all have to set up these plastic tent things like glass houses over their crops. Jormungand only has to set up a magical barrier which works much better but takes up a fair amount of energy and concentration. He has help though.”

Darcy cocked her head. The boys hardly ever spoke about the alien refugees who lived and worked with them on their farm. “So, are most of these refugees you live with Fire Giants?”

He nodded. “Yeah, they are the tiny remnants of our clan from Muspellheim. There are a few other oddballs but mostly it’s just us.” Was all he said, and Darcy wondered what happened to the fire giant ladies if the men had to run away to another planet in order to survive. She decided not to ask, assuming that one day she would hear the whole story. She knew that Fenrir was pretty young when everything went down, which was why Hel and Jormungand were so protective of him. It was pretty nice that their tribe could still live and farm together though, and she saw why they were so reluctant to let people visit.

“Rad. I’m glad everything’s ready for winter. It’s so nice to think of all those flowers all over New York State getting little houses so they can stay warm!”

Fenrir smiled. “Yeah, we gotta look after them you know, get’s pretty cold around. You should hear the way Jormungand talks about them, like they’re his kids or something.” They both laughed and Darcy handed him a plate of brioche and a bowl of chopped tomatoes and olive oil. She grabbed the mac herself and they walked over to the table. They were quiet as they fussed around, Darcy dished up dinner and Fen poured them wine. This was one of the things she liked about their friendship. It was so easy. They liked being in each other’s company and silence was totally OK. There wasn’t any list of tasks that needed to be achieved, just presence. It was nice. Fenrir asked about her week and she talked about the food situation and Alanah and how cool she was. They talked about the time that Fenrir spent as a baker in France the century before and how different that would be to now. He told her all about brioche as they tore their own apart and she told him that the first time he took her travelling she thought of brioche. He laughed.

“Well, you know, like you feel like you’re getting pulled apart but in a nice way. Like this bread almost _wants_ you to tear it apart it’s so soft!”

He stopped laughing but couldn’t hide his grin. “I guess so? Maybe you’re just full of butter and egg and it destabilises your gluten molecules?”

“Is that what it is?” Darcy asked, pulling another piece off and loading it with tomato before shoving it in her mouth.

“Yeah. The protein prevents the gluten from making the strong bond that normal bread has. Also you get a little more air in there, so it’s fluffy.”

Darcy loved it when he got factual. “Whatever it is it’s fucking delicious.”

He laughed again. “That’s true. So is your mac. How many cheeses do you have in here?”

“I don’t know, five maybe? Probably went a little overboard but you know, it works.”

“It’s amazing.”

 Darcy blushed a little. She hadn’t really been cooking for long and the look in his eyes was the same when he ate his favourite pizza or gelato. He wasn’t lying to make her feel better. “Thanks baby.” He watched at her then, catching her as she shoved more brioche and tomato in her trap, bits of tomato falling onto her plate. She picked up the bits and ate them too.

He laughed again, and she laughed too, and they continued eating.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alien romance pt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you hadn't guessed, this is totally how I do dinner (minus the alien mating tea). Also I'm a total baking nerd when my body isn't being the worst, also brioche is the best.

When it was time for desert Darcy brought out the stuff she’d made the week before, when her kitchen hadn’t been occupied by Alana. It was vanilla and lavender flavoured, with a tiny bit of pepper. She scooped some tiny serves because they didn’t need much and added some berries and a few shortbreads on the side.

She put her kettle on and casually strolled to her room. She looked at the box again, weighing things up and figured what the hell and pocketed it, taking it back into the kitchen, pulling down the tea set that she’d saved so much money for from anthropology not that long ago. What a different life she lived now. She put everything on a tray and looked at Fenrir. He’d been messaging Jormungand but looked up as she spoke, his attention instantly on her. “Hey Fen did you want to have this on the couch?”

“Sure, did you need some help?” Darcy paused. She’d never dated anyone that walked so delicately the line between being too helpful and not helpful enough. He never treated her like she needed saving, but the offer was always there, making her feel secure and looked after but not smothered.

“Nah dude I got this.” She waved him towards the lounge set up and he sat, picking up the guitar she’d left there the night before when she couldn’t sleep. The sound of picked notes drifted through the room as she dumped the strange blue tea into the pot and filled it with water. She wondered how long it needed to brew but supposed Fen would know. She put a lid on the pot and carried the tray over. Now Fenrir was part wolf or something, Darcy still wasn’t 100% sure exactly what the deal was (not even Loki was 100% sure what the deal was and he was a magical scholar) but one thing she did know was that his sense of smell was much more powerful and discerning than anyone else that she knew. His expression as she walked towards him changed dramatically and his fingers froze on the guitar. He seemed to both tense and relax at the same time. She smiled nervously and put the tray on the coffee table, her hands shaking a little at the end there.

Fenrir watched her nervously fuss over everything before taking her hand into his. “Are you sure you want to do this? You know it’s spelled, right?”

Darcy swallowed. “..So we tell the truth, right? This will help us talk? We don’t have to if you don’t want to, I didn’t want to presume, but I thought it was probably a good time to talk about some stuff.”

He ran a hand though his lovely hair and Darcy shivered a little. He turned back to her. “Who did you get this from?”

Darcy sighed as she sat on the floor in front of the coffee table. Fenrir towered above her where he sat on the couch on the other side. She thought this needed some context maybe. “So you know when I moved in here and your dad moved in next door? The first night after you guys went home I went over to his place with some dinner and books but I also went with something else. I ah-“ she gave a dry laugh, because meddling this way totally wasn’t usually her style. “I got a tip off from Frigga that when Sif and Loki were younger a heck of a lot of strawberry tarts went mysteriously missing from the kitchens. I knew Sif would be stopping by later that night and so I ordered some fancy as fuck strawberry tarts from that awesome patisserie around the corner. I sort of hid them till the end of dinner pretending they were supposed to be for desert but that I was all tuckered out and that he could have them both. Man you should have seen his face. It’s why I don’t meddle, right? But your grandma, she doesn’t seem to be very scared of Loki emotion explosions. He played it cool though, so I bailed and I sort of... asked JARVIS to track the conversation when Sif went in and he said it went pretty well.” She shrugged, playing with her hands.

Fenrir was sort of smiling, Darcy was pretty sure it was a smile but it was a little grim “So this is his revenge?”

“I guess so? He said it was a thank you, but I think it was a little bit of vengeance as well.”

He searched Darcy’s face and whatever he saw there satisfied him because he nodded and slid to the floor between the coffee table and couch, bringing him a lot closer to her. “Alright Darcy Lewis, let’s talk.” She nodded and moved to her knees so that she could pour the tea. It was a pleasant purple colour when brewed, flowing delicately into the cups and smelling like a dream. She could feel the magic and wondered how they made it. Fenrir watched Darcy’s every move, and even with the scent of the tea she felt her own attention pulled to the man in front of her. She noticed the green in his eyes, every bat of his eyelash and his movement with exhalation of breath. He looked at the way she was sitting. “Are you comfortable? You probably won’t notice after you drink this so...we’re going to be here for a while.”

She shook herself and thought about it. She pulled a cushion from the couch and moved to the end of the table, leaning against the heavy armchair, bringing her perpendicular to Fenrir. She was even closer to him now, and he swivelled a little, crossing his legs and settling. She took a cup and its saucer and passed it to Fen, and he took it, expression solemn. It must not be customary to touch during this rite as his hands carefully avoided hers in the exchange. She took her own cup and saucer and looked at him, a question in her eyes.

He drank, and she followed. The tea had cooled and they both emptied their cups, placing them back on the tray. She vaguely noticed her ice-cream had melted a little but didn’t mind, this was way more important. She looked back at her love interest and knew that she wouldn’t be looking away from him for a good long while. It was amazing, how strong the potion was, pulling every fibre of her thoughts toward the present moment, the man she was with. He was so beautiful, and she took him in for a while, enjoying the intense attention the spell had brought her. She was usually a lot more flighty than this. When he didn’t say anything she cleared her throat. “Is there anything I’m supposed to say?”

He smiled. His eyes not leaving her own. “What did you want to talk about, Darcy?”

“Uh...” She realised she really should have thought about that before initiating this rite. “I suppose... well I’ve had conversations with your dad, and with Hel, and with Jormungand about Fire Giants and stuff, but _we_ haven’t really spoken about it, like, at all. And because you’re not just Fire Giant but you are other things as well I didn’t want to assume anything. I’ve been pretty cool just to wait on you as far as timing goes but I suppose I thought that maybe I should ask you what you want. What do you want, Fenrir? Are you just going along with this because I picked you? I mean I admit I kind of chased you. Is this what you want? What do you want? What do you need from me?”

He didn’t answer immediately; he just chewed on his lip, continuing their visual exchange. “I definitely wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want a relationship with you. I’ve definitely had one night stands before, you know.” He smiled at the obvious relief in her facial expression. “But, uh... I’ve been trying to figure that stuff out. It’s really strange, the dynamic of the Fire Giant. It’s not totally who I am but I can feel the sea calling to me, and the earth. And I never, not once on any planet that I’ve ever been on found a woman who pulls me in like they do. Not until I met you, it’s crazy. It’s like I can’t get you out of my head and I’m always thinking of you, like there is this hole right in my heart when you’re not around. Ever since I met you and you complimented my flowers I was bespelled. That’s why I was so scared to go out with you, because when you asked me to get a burger by the ocean all I could think of was how easy it would be for you to break my heart, because you’re human, it’s not quite as life and death for you.”

Darcy was pretty surprised. He never looked like he was feeling all of those things. He was always so quiet and stoic. “You mean I-I hurt you?”

His eyes softened. “I wouldn’t say hurt. It’s a good pain. It’s like...I don’t know how to explain it, but no, you don’t hurt me. Unless you told me you never wanted to see me again. ”

Darcy swallowed. “So if we feel like we need to break up...?”

“It happens on Muspellheim. That feeling tends to fade to something else over time. Though if you look at my father whenever you mention my mother’s name...”

So this is pretty serious hey?” she licked her lips and thought about things. Now she knew why Fenrir had been so reluctant to do the rite. She really hadn’t known he was experiencing all of those things. It was a lot of pressure, though with all of Loki’s talks she kind of already knew it was a big deal. She was in this for the long haul anyway. Later she’d wonder why she was so keen for that kind of thing when she’d been so afraid of commitment with anyone else she’d dated. “Fenrir, what do you need from me?”

His eyed widened. “You still want to do this?”

She laughed, “Well, yeah.”

“Even though –“ His face held confusion and a little apprehension.

Darcy moved to her knees again, leaning forward and taking a handful of his beard, pulling him towards her gently. His eyes held her own, his whole body still, only watching her. She moved closer still and released his beard, running her thumb up his jaw line. Softly she whispered in his ear, her other hand burying itself in his hair under where it was tied. “Fenrir, would it be OK if I kissed you right now?” he closed his eyes and nodded, his hands fisting on either side of him. She moved slowly, taking his face in her hands and reaching up to kiss him on his temple gently, moving to the space under his eyebrow, then his cheekbone. He allowed her to move his head, malleable under her hands. She then kissed his eye, and between his brows, the place where it creased when he worried. She pushed down the need to make it erotic, knowing that was a long way off, but instead continued to give him light kisses on his face. It seemed he had relaxed completely, and when she finally arrived at his lips, she fluttered a hundred tiny kisses, exploring his mouth before firmly covering it with her own. She felt him smile under her ministrations. They kissed for a small time before she pulled back and licked her lips. The spell was still strong; she still couldn’t have cared less if the tower was burning, all she wanted to do was spend time with the man in front of her. He opened his eyes sleepily and she smiled at him. She ran her fingers through his beard and hair and he closed his eyes again, enjoying her touch. She allowed her fingers to trail down his neck and shoulders moving to his hands and took them into her own. His breathing was relaxed, even, his muscles loose, unlike her own. “How do you feel?”

He sighed a small sigh and opened his eyes once more. “Darcy you have no idea. It feels like ... home.” She stilled; eyes wide as she looked into his. Darcy couldn’t describe the way Fenrir was looking at her but she knew she would normally be terrified seeing anyone look at her like that. It was something like devotion, adoration, like Darcy was the answer to all his problems. Terrifying. But she knew Fenrir wasn’t that stupid, and that it was just all those feelings he was talking about. He was one of the most well adjusted and self reliant dudes she knew. She realised now why they only hung out every so often on Muspellheim, like these emotions were _intense_. No one could deal with that shit full time. No wonder he freaked out when she got shot and made Loki do something. Right now she felt that if anyone harmed Fen she would gut them, and she didn’t even know how to gut anyone. Her heart was racing, and she could feel sweat pooling at her temples and trickling down her neck.

“Do you think you could kiss me now?” she asked, looking at him from under her lashes and a crooked smile on her lips. He released her hands and ran his hands up her arms, clearly enjoying the feel of her cashmere sleeves. He touched her hair lightly, brushing it from her face. He moved his long legs, pushing the table away so that he could encircle her in the crook of his knees. She lightly traced a line up his thighs and up his sides, landing at his chest. She leaned in then, and Fenrir hugged him to her, burying his face in her hair. After a while he shifted his hands again, to the back of her neck, his two thumbs on her jaw, softly angling her face toward his. She saw so many things in his eyes, and all of them were good. When he kissed her she sort of forgot everything else existed. If you had asked her for her own name or who Harry Potter was she wouldn’t have been able to tell you. She nibbled on his bottom lip ever so softly, soothing it with her tongue afterwards. He opened his mouth and she entered, exploring his pointed teeth carefully with her tongue, making him moan. It felt like a teenage make out session with all of the awesome newness and none of the awkwardness. She smiled as she eventually pulled away for air, moving her hands to grip his shoulders as his moved to secure her waist. They still kept their bodies separate, content to keep it sweet. Fenrir took her lip into his pointed teeth softly and she pushed him away as desire unfurled itself in her belly and between her legs. “Fenrir honey if you don’t want me to jump you right now you want to stop that.” While he had seemed to melt into a happy puddle Darcy’s heart was racing and she moved back into the armchair, still panting a little. She waggled her finger at him. “You’re way too sexy for that shit right now.”

He smiled apologetically and didn’t follow her. The spell seemed to be weakening and they both came to themselves slowly, she stretched her legs and then her back. He watched her, taking in the way the soft shirt draped itself over her form as she arched her spine. She looked at the tray and noticed that the ice cream hadn’t melted. Her brows creased. “Oh, I stopped it melting. Would you like some my love?”

Darcy fist pumped. Fire Giant ice magic. So handy. “Thank you.”

He grinned lazily and handed her a bowl, taking his own. His brow creased when he tasted the ice cream. “This is delicious Darce. How did you know to put lavender and pepper together?”

“Um, just a guess? I don’t know man; I just suddenly know this shit since I got magic. It’s a total unexpected bonus. I haven’t even touched a pop tart in months!”

He laughed. “Well thank you Grandmother.”

She smiled back at him and dipped her cookie in her ice cream, snagging a berry along with it  while she thought about Frigga, and the fact that those dreams had lead her to three new incredible friends and a boy who looked at her like _that_. “Hell yeah. Thank you Frigga.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dude, I don't know, was that weird?


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some interludes.

Loki was pacing in his lounge room for quite some time before he realised what he was doing. There was a time when he didn’t much care what the Avengers did with themselves, just so long as it was away from him. In his more malicious moments he even found himself rooting for the other team, whichever villain or organisation they were up against. It wasn’t even the fact that Sif was with them, for all she was supposedly on Midgard to protect her Prince she had been too long without a decent fight and so had started helping the Avengers with local matters. No, slowly, Loki had come to care for these mortals. Tony had become a diverting conversationalist and chess opponent, Bruce and he had taken up meditating and forms on the rooftop at sunrise. Natasha and he verbally sparred often, but only because they enjoyed it, and had a mutual understanding of one another’s character, more than any malice. Clint and he had come to a peaceful understanding after Hogan’s surprising act of mediation, enjoying silent target practice with arrows and knives. And Steve, the boy Jormungand had taken into his bed was worming his way into Loki’s heart as fast as he was into his family. Though that was no surprise. Loki had always been different and more open when it came to family, for all his relationships were strained with his father and brother; he loved his children with everything he had. Idly he wondered how differently things would have gone on Midgard if his children hadn’t been present. He probably would have escaped shortly after waking up. Instead, he was here, ensconced in this plush tower of Stark’s worrying over the warriors as they fought honourably for the good of the people. He grimaced at the thought.

Blast, if Sif found him like this she would roast him. He forced himself to sit down and picked up the instrument that Darcy had lent him, this guitar. He pulled out the sheet music she had printed out for him. He had learned the theory of music on Midgard quite easily, and whilst he found it to be a calming activity, it was mentally stimulating enough to keep him interested. He dutifully made sure the instrument was tuned, and then set about picking a tune. Before long he found himself relaxing, his mind and fingers occupied.  Suddenly wishing for the piano instead, Loki put down Darcy’s guitar and wandered out to the common area to see if it was deserted. Satisfied that he was alone, Loki opened the grand piano and arranged his sheet music

...

Steve was exhausted as he opened the door to his apartment at Avengers Tower. He closed it and dumped his shield by the doorway as he heard a soft knock. He stared at the door for a moment. “Steve? Steve I know you’re in there. Tony said you got hurt.”

He groaned, opening the door. For all he just wanted to sleep he had a hard time denying Darcy anything. “It’s nothing Darce, just a scratch.” She was standing in the open doorway with a tub of ice cream and her little bag of tricks.

“Come on, let me see. Bruce is out of it and he’ll kill me if I let you go to bed like that. Fuck Steve there’s so much blood!”

“Not all mine.” Was all he said as she pulled a face and motioned for him to strip the top half of his shredded suit off.

“Yeah well.” She said, pulling a face. “Looks like enough of it is.” She moved to the kitchen and boiled some water, throwing some herbs into a bowl. He was used to this stuff by now. Once she had her bowl of steaming water she came back to where he was sitting on a bar stool, head in his hands. “So did you catch the bad guys at least?”

Steve swallowed. They’d gotten a lead on those weird creatures that had attacked Darcy and Jormungand on Halloween but didn’t like what they found. “Not really Darce.” She paused where she was cleaning the large cut on his back, eyebrows knitted. Steve sighed, “We found a few nests of those creatures that attacked you but there were no further clues about where they are coming from or the reason they are in New  York. We had to clean out the place and fighting them is just... there is no pleasure in it.”

Darcy nodded, her steady hands bandaging a wound which would probably heal within the hour. Steve sighed again, letting her fuss. He knew it wasn’t easy to sit back and wait for them every time they went out. “At least there’s less space guns out on the street, right? That’s worth more than you think.” Steve nodded. He supposed it was, but he couldn’t help seeing her lying limp in the med lab with a hole burned through her arm. Darcy gave him a hug, which did more for him than he’d like to admit. “It’ll work out, Steve! Don’t worry so much.”

Steve snorted. As if that would ever stop happening. He worried like he breathed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sif attempts to flirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: Loki has a panic attack in this chapter, and Sif doesn't really know how to help very well.

Loki didn’t look up from the book he was reading as Sif sauntered in to his bedchamber, as was increasingly becoming her habit in recent months, particularly when she’d been drinking. “Not at the party?”

“Feasts are so boring when you aren’t there to make fun of people. The ones of Midgard are even more boring if it’s possible, with more speeches and less stories. They don’t even know what a skald is!”

“Did you want me to tell you a story, hmm? Is that why you came down—“ Loki stopped, surprised as he finally looked at her, taking in her form. Sif’s smile was all teeth, a smile of victory. “You still have it? After _nine hundred_ years?”

She did a twirl, proving that indeed she was drunk enough to act in such a girlish manner. Midnight blue silk floated about her dramatically. She ended the twirl by ungracefully falling onto Loki’s bed. She truly must have been inebriated to be so clumsy. Loki didn’t quite know what to say. She lay there, torso enclosed snugly in blue leather like armour, a gown he himself had designed for her so very long ago. She rolled onto her elbows and looked up at him. She snorted “Well it’s not like I would throw it out now would I?”

He raised his eyebrows. “There are a few choice moments over the centuries where you told me in no uncertain terms that you hated me. So yes, I assumed there were several gifts of mine you might have discarded.”

She shook her head. “I never could hate you, no matter how hard I tried.” She shook her head. “No, actually that’s not true. I hated you. But I still loved you.”

He gave her an incredulous look. That was surely alcohol speaking- though she did carry him on her back for seven months so maybe... his eyebrows knitted in thought. He made a sound of surprise as she grabbed his thigh, pulling him towards her from where he had been sitting against his headboard. “Sif I don’t think-“

She had his mouth then, and she tasted of Asgardian spirits, which explained her level of inebriation. “Loki.” She said, a statement. He swallowed as she locked his gaze with hers, stroking his hair with gentle fingers.

“Hello Sif.” The situation was strikingly similar to the night that Sif had seduced Loki for the first time in their youth. He looked down and saw that she had boots on under her gown and he tipped back his head and laughed, eyes crinkled and awkwardness forgotten. She grinned a girlish grin, rolling off of him and bringing her booted feet into the air. They were a pair similar to his own, made by a Midgardian called Doctor Martin. Nothing compared to what he could get on Alfheim, but comfortable nevertheless.

“Darcy said I was allowed to, though Pepper gave me a look.” She stated.

“Norns, it has been so long since you wore boots to a feast like that.” He sighed, rolling to his side so that he was facing her. “Was it really that boring?”

She sighed. “It was OK. There was dancing, which is so vulgar here compared to home, and Clint is always good for some company. He was amusing for a while, and I do enjoy spending time with Darcy.”

“Do you miss home?” he asked quietly. “You are not obliged to stay if you do not wish it; the Allfather can send someone else to watch me be boring.”

She punched him on the arm. “I shall be staying, you menace. The others aren’t wily enough. You’d be taking over the realm as soon as I turned my back.” He winced at that, shd her gaze softened. “Sorry, I know you don’t wish to rule. But to answer your question I don’t miss it as much as I thought I would.” He lay back on the bed, tired all the sudden, looking at the glittering ceiling, and felt Sif’s long fingers trail up his side, playing on his ribs. “Still so thin Loki.” She commented, as she always did on these occasions. It was true he didn’t eat all that much, his stomach was often in knots from anxiety and he could hardly stomach it unless Darcy was there chattering away and putting him at ease. He hated to think of how reliant he was beginning to become on the little witch’s company. A small sigh escaped his lips and Sif sat up next to him, bending over to look at his face, her hair spilling over him. She rubbed her thumb between his brows, smoothing out his worry lines and moved up to his scalp, carding fingers through his hair once more. He closed his eyes, not sure how to respond to her this particular evening. Thankfully, it was Sif; she never did mind driving things. She bent over him and captured his mouth once more, pinning him down on his shoulders. He let her devour, opening his mouth to her, letting her take what she would. She adjusted her position again; straddling him, blue silk spilling over his torso where she sat.

“Sif. You’re drunk.” He said softly, fingers playing in the star silk that pooled at her thighs. It had been so long since he had felt the softness of the Elfish material.

She scoffed, pinning him once more. “Does that matter? You know I want you.”

He closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of being immersed in the woman he had ever loved. Quiet, so quiet that he wasn’t sure he’d actually said it he whispered “But I want to keep you.” He opened his eyes.

She was glaring at him. “You idiot.” His eyes widened. “You are the only man who had ever had me; didn’t you ever stop to wonder why?”

He shrugged as much as he could under her firm grip, giving a sardonic laugh. “I assumed I disgusted you so much it put you off men forever.”

She took him by the throat, squeezing slightly. Her expression was terrifying. “You are the most beautiful being in the nine realms, fool. Male or female there has never been anyone else that made me feel as you do.”  But Loki didn’t hear her words. Suddenly Sif was replaced by someone else and he scrapped at her hands. He panicked, trying to throw her off. As soon as the hand was removed from his neck gasped for air, batting at the hands that tried to touch him, throwing wild punches. Someone was trying to talk to him, but they were pinning him down. He couldn’t move. Air he needed air....

...

Sif was trying to get something through to Loki when his demeanour changed. He used to like it when she took control, but there was panic in his eyes like he didn’t know who she was. He arched up, trying to throw her off but he hadn’t been eating and was still weak. Sif easy kept him in place but took a few hits from his flailing arms. “Loki! Loki! It’s OK It’s me!”

She heard a polite cough. “Excuse me Lady Sif”

Oh, Jarvis. “Yes Jarvis?” she asked as she finally pinned Loki. He was still hyperventilating, struggling to throw her.

“Mr Silvertongue has been having panic attacks lately, due to his incarceration and torture. He does not take kindly to being restrained.” Sif’s drunken mind cleared. Of course. “Should I hit him?” He bucked again.

“I wouldn’t recommend it Lady.”

No. No, she supposed not. She threw herself off of him, rolling from the bed and avoiding another punch. Loki backed away from her in the opposite direction, sliding from the bed on the other side. The only sound in the room was of Loki’s panting. Far too fast.

“Loki? Loki?” she said soothingly into the room, “You’re on Midgard. You are safe. Breathe Loki. Breathe.” The Prince obviously knew what to do as he eventually seemed to eventually get control. Sif had never seen him like this, up till this point. The dreams, she knew about, but he had never forgotten who she was before. She curled her legs under her, looking over the bed warily. His back was to her, he was leaning against the bed. “Do you want me to go?” she saw him tense. She knew he’d hate that she witnessed his weakness.

“No.” It was quiet. She stood and softly crossed the room to sit next to him. He didn’t look at her, just kept breathing, eyes closed. She could see the rise and fall of his chest through his thin t shirt, his ribs showing through. She took his wrist gently and he allowed it. His pulse was still racing.

“You remember that time in Alfheim when we found those giant butterflies?” she asked, thinking of a fond memory. He didn’t say anything so she continues softly. “You told us about those giant flowers and we all went to pick a trophy for the Allmother. And we had to hike for two days! Thor and I were so angry that there was nothing to hunt and Fandral kept quoting bad poetry on the journey. Hogan looked like he wanted to murder him!” there was a small smile on the prince’s lips, so she kept on talking, relaxing a little and picturing it, drawing circles on the Prince’s wrist. “Then, on the second day we stumbled across those trolls. Ah, it was a glorious battle. I killed three. But you were adamant that we continue, and though Hogan was injured he agreed. So we walked until we saw the clearing. Thor! Remember? He was carrying all of the stolen bounty taken from the trolls, so many dresses and jewelry. But do you remember the flowers?” Loki nodded, eyes open now, staring out at the cityscape of New York through his window. The flowers, a little like Midgardian poppies grew as tall as the Aesir, some even taller. There were several varieties, and Sif remembered a much younger Loki, eyes wide and bright, excitedly lecturing them about the air currents and magical weather patterns that made this field the only place they could grow. She chuckled. “And then this shadow fell over your face and you were staring over our shoulders with your mouth wide open and we all thought it was a troll! I remember actually pulling out my sword and turning to see a butterfly!” Loki’s shoulders shook in quiet laughter as Sif continued to describe that day. They had all stood in awe as a bright butterfly the size of a swan had flittered over the warriors with their drawn weapons, Loki laughing at them. Then they noticed more, they had just assumed they were birds in the distance. One had landed on Volstagg, thinking his bright beard a flower. They had camped in that wondrous field, and Loki had cut a magical poesy for the Allmother, who had been truly delighted. Those were much more innocent times. Before Thor had become quite so violent and before Loki had become quite so damaged. She laced her fingers through the Prince’s  as they both sat, lost in the remembering.

....

Sif awoke with a thumping head. She tried to take in a deep breath but found her chest restricted. She cracked her eyes open and realised she had a prince pillowed on her chest, which was still bound in the leather armour of her favourite dress. The last Loki had ever designed for her. She untangled her fingers from his hair, so long these days, and worked out how to extricate herself. He woke abruptly, jumping off of her in surprise before quite working out who she was. She grinned despite her headache at the soft expression on his face the moment he realised she had stayed the night. Then she groaned, cradling her head as she remembered her butchered plans to seduce her friend. So much for that strategy. He gently touched her hands, his voice soft with concern “What ails you? Is it the liquor?” she nodded carefully and he kissed the crown of her head before disappearing and coming back shortly after with a tonic of some kind. It smelled fresh and she gingerly sat up, trying to untangle herself from her skirts. She smiled her thanks as he passed her the drink and watched her till she swallowed every last drop. Thank the Norns for Loki Odinson and his hangover remedies. She looked up at him, shirtless but still sporting black jeans. His long hair was tangled and curly and she felt desire curl in her belly. She inwardly groaned again at being such an arse and causing the man she loved more than she hated to have a panic attack.

Her voice was thick with the morning when she spoke “Loki. I’m so sorry about last night. I got into my cups so that I would be courageous but I—I should have known better than to restrain you, all I was thinking about was the past but everything’s different now.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, looking out the window instead of at her. “I’m damaged goods, Sif.” She crawled up behind him, bracketing him with her legs and ran her nails gently up his exposed back, up his neck, plunging both hands into his hair, massaging his scalp. He leaned back into her ministrations, his hands finding her thighs.

She nuzzled his neck and kissed him below his ear. “Tsk Loki. You are not the one at fault here, though I have to say you did slog me pretty good in the side of my head.” He stiffened and she nibbled at his neck. “I deserved it, fool. Mmmm, you’re still deliciously edible.” He stood, pulling himself out of her embrace and turned to look at her, cupping her face in his large hands. He kissed her then, wet and wanting, and then he disappeared. Sif fell back on the bed and let out a huff. Well, it wasn’t a rejection.  She groaned and punched the bed next to her, and rose to go shower in her own quarters. A long play, she could do that. He just needed time. They needed time.

Arriving at her apartments five minutes later she opened her door to find one giant bloom in a vase on her coffee table. An illusion, but a message all the same. She bit her lip in a smile and thought maybe it wouldn’t be so long after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason I ship Loki & Sif so hard is because of the head cannon of their long friendship and so much shared history. In my head cannon they are also evenly matched usually as far as strength and flexibility, but in this case poor Lokes is still repairing from his time with Thanos, a fatal chest wound before that and incarceration in Asgard before that, so he's got a while before he's back in peak condition. Sif can push him around a bit, which is her adorable brand of affection. 
> 
> I also loved the idea of giant poppies, I wonder what the sound would be like when they 'popped'.

**Author's Note:**

> Yo! So this story got away from me and I'm probably going to end up re writing whole bunch of it when I finally work out where I want to go with it. Sorry! 
> 
> I usually wait till a story is finished before I post it so this usually doesn't happen! 
> 
> Hopefully it won't be forever, but I'm not having much fun with it right now so no promises.


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